Recent Trends in the Burden of Alcohol Intoxication on Pediatric In-Patient Services in Germany

Meyer, Shirley; Steiner, M; Mueller, Holger; Nunold, H.; Gottschling, S; Gortner, Ludwig

doi:10.1055/s-2007-972566

Cited by 19 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 7 publications

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“…Also, 82.0% of the hospitalizations due to alcohol intoxication were in the age group 14-18 and the number of hospitalized children in that age group has alarmingly grown over the years. Similar results were reported by a German study, with greatest increase in hospitalizations due to alcohol intoxication in the adolescents aged between 13 and 17 (20). A Polish study showed that 37% of children first tried alcohol when they were between 10 and 15 years old.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 86%

Alcohol Intoxication in Pediatric Age: Ten-year Retrospective Study

Bitunjac

Saraga

2009

Croat Med J

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Methods Data on children hospitalized due to intoxication were retrieved from hospital medical records. Children were classified into 4 age groups: 0-5, 6-9, 10-13, and 14-18 years, and their sex and type of intoxication were recorded. For children with alcohol intoxication, data on time of intoxication, reason for drinking, presence of injuries or suspected suicide attempts, and possible presence of other drugs in the organism were collected.Results Out of 29 506 hospitalized children, 594 were hospitalized due to intoxications. Out of these, 239 (40.2%) were hospitalized due to intoxication by alcohol. More boys than girls were hospitalized (71.1%). The proportion of alcohol intoxication cases among all types of intoxication cases increased from 16.7% in 1997/98 to 66.3% in 2006/07. The proportion of patients hospitalized due to alcohol intoxication increased from 0.3% of all hospitalized children in the first year to 1.7% in the last year of the study (P = 0.015, z test for comparison of two proportions). Eighty two per cent of alcohol intoxication cases were in the 14-18 age-group. The number of alcohol intoxication cases increased among girls from 1 case (6.3% of all intoxication cases among girls) in 1997/98 to 15 cases (45.5%) in 2006/07, while among boys it increased from 6 cases (23.1% of all intoxicated boys) in 1997/98 to 44 cases (78.6%) in 2006/07. Children usually drank outside their homes (79.4%) and mostly on weekends and holidays (73.2%). ConclusionThe alarming increase in the number of hospitalizations due to alcohol intoxication in children, especially among girls and in the adolescent age group, represents a serious problem, which requires further attention and research. Clinical intoxication is a condition characterized by sudden or gradual threat to one or more organic systems due to contact with poison (1). Acute intoxications are often urgent situations that require a specific medical procedure. The first signs of acute alcohol intoxication in terms of behavior changes appear when the concentration of ethanol in serum reaches approximately 0.5‰ (1). When the concentration rises to 2.5‰, mydriasis, diplopia, ataxia, hypothermia, nausea, and vomiting appear (1). Concentration over 4.5‰ can lead to disorders of consciousness (sopor to coma), as well as to death due to respiratory insufficiency. Hypothermia often coexists with the described symptoms (1). The development of chronic alcoholism in adults lasts 5-10 years (2). Therefore, the term "alcoholism" cannot be applied to children, but we rather use the term "problems with alcohol. " The term includes all children who have social, psychological, or legal problems due to acute intoxication or regular excessive alcohol abuse or dependence (2).Alcohol intoxication is a growing phenomenon all over the world, which develops independently of the political, economical, social, and health care situation in the country. Thus, alcoholism is a serious problem in many countries, such as the United States (3-6), Scandinavian countries (7,8), Switzerla...

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 86%

Alcohol Intoxication in Pediatric Age: Ten-year Retrospective Study

Bitunjac

Saraga

2009

Croat Med J

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“…Similar to the study presented by Selma H. Bouthoorn et al [1], we demonstrated in a national German study, that the number of alcohol-intoxicated children and adolescents requiring in-patient hospital treatment (≥24 h) increased significantly in the years 2000-2002, the most prominent increase being seen in adolescents aged 13-17 years, and female patients [4]. The percentage of female patients increased from 34.1% in 2000 to 41.9% in 2001 and 49.8% in 2002 (p*<0.05).…”

supporting

confidence: 89%

“…Once realised, these intervention measures then mandate ongoing assessment as to whether they improve the outcomes of this group of children and adolescents. While these measures have to take into consideration gender differences in the susceptibility to alcohol consumption-as shown by the study from Bouthoorn et al [1], health care workers should also be prepared to see an increasing influx of female adolescents [4].…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Heavy alcohol consumption in children and adolescents: characteristics and gender differences

2011

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“…While excessive alcohol consumption in adolescence, especially binge drinking, has been comprehensively investigated (for a review, see Courtney and Polich [20]), acute alcohol intoxication with subsequent hospital admission (i.e., BIHA) as an extreme form of bingeing has gained scientific attention only during the last years [3,4,21,22,23,24,25,26,27]. An important question concerning the significance of extreme bingeing remains open: does a single BIHA indicate that psychosocial development is at risk, e.g., by the development of AUDs?…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Retrospective Analysis of Psychosocial Risk Factors Modulating Adolescent Alcohol Binge Drinking

Groß¹,

Neumann²,

Kalkbrenner³

et al. 2014

Eur Addict Res

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Background/Aims: Adolescent alcohol binge-induced hospital admissions (BIHAs) are an increasing problem in Europe. We investigated whether psychosocial factors (e.g., drinking situations, drinking occasions and neighborhood unemployment) are associated with particularly risky patterns of alcohol or substance use. Method: We performed a systematic retrospective chart review of all the respective cases in 2003-2008 (n = 586; age range: 12-17 years) from both pediatric hospitals in the city of Dresden, Germany. Results: The vast majority of adolescent BIHAs were associated with drinking together with peers at weekend parties. Compared to this ‘typical' drinking pattern, adolescents drinking ‘atypically' (i.e., drinking either alone, to cope or despite the fact that the next day was a school/work day) more often had already used alcohol and illegal substances before and were more often diagnosed with substance use disorders and other mental disorders prior to BIHA. The unemployment rate in the patients' neighborhood was positively related to the incidence proportion of adolescent BIHAs in the respective subdistricts (r_s = 0.61). Conclusion: Adolescent atypical drinking may indicate an increased risk for the development of alcohol and substance use disorders. This information is quickly accessible and can alert clinicians to initiate psychosocial aftercare; their infrastructure should address the strong relation between BIHA probability and neighborhood unemployment rates.

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Recent Trends in the Burden of Alcohol Intoxication on Pediatric In-Patient Services in Germany

Cited by 19 publications

References 7 publications

Alcohol Intoxication in Pediatric Age: Ten-year Retrospective Study

Alcohol Intoxication in Pediatric Age: Ten-year Retrospective Study

Heavy alcohol consumption in children and adolescents: characteristics and gender differences

A Retrospective Analysis of Psychosocial Risk Factors Modulating Adolescent Alcohol Binge Drinking

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