Management of Alcohol Abusing Patients in Accident and Emergency Departments

Abstract

A pilot study was undertaken in the Accident & Emergency (A & E) departments of two central London teaching hospitals to determine if patients who were abusing alcohol and had not received any prior medical treatment or counselling for their drinking problem were amenable to offers of help. During the 24-month study period 104 patients were identified as having a previously untreated alcohol problem, and of these 46% attended an appointment to discuss their drinking habits. The group identified was much smaller than would be expected from the number attending the A & E departments during the study period and the reasons for this are discussed. However, the important observation from the study is that almost half the patients identified as having an alcohol problem returned to the department the following day to seek advice. This suggests that A & E departments are an appropriate place to offer patients initial help about their drinking habits.

The Paddington Alcohol Test: The Evolution of a Pragmatic Clinical Tool.

“…Robert Patton 1 1 Email: robert.patton@kcl.ac.uk Addictions Department, Kings College London, London, UK…”

“…In 1988 Green and colleagues (in a collaboration between the departments of Psychiatry and Emergency Medicine, St Mary's Hospital, Paddington) started work on a pilot study to determine if patients reporting to the ED would be amenable to offers of help with their alcohol consumption [1]. Over a two year period 104 patients attending the ED were identified as having an alcohol problem (0.08% of all attendees), and of these 46% attended an appointment with an ED Consultant to discuss their drinking.…”