Universal screening for alcohol misuse in acute medical admissions is feasible and identifies patients at high risk of liver disease

Diagnosis and Treatment of Alcohol‐Associated Liver Diseases: 2019 Practice Guidance From the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases

“…Screening in general medicine and specialty clinics has been shown to help identify patients with ALD early, and by coupling this with a discussion of the implications for liver disease, may be motivational for alcohol reduction . Mandatory alcohol use screening of inpatients and in the emergency department effectively identifies heavy users, assists ALD diagnosis, and improves connection to treatment of AUD . Importantly, use of screening tools such as AUDIT has been shown to improve detection as well as the ability to predict long‐term clinical outcomes, including hospitalization for alcohol‐associated diagnoses …”

“…(32) Mandatory alcohol use screening of inpatients and in the emergency department effectively identifies heavy users, assists ALD diagnosis, and improves connection to treatment of AUD. (33) Importantly, use of screening tools such as AUDIT has been shown to improve detection as well as the ability to predict long-term clinical outcomes, including hospitalization for alcohol-associated diagnoses. (34,35)…”

Alcohol-related Liver Disease: Areas of Consensus, Unmet Needs and Opportunities for Further Study

“…In order to achieve this end, patients could be selected in alcohol rehabilitation clinics. There is also evidence that universal screening for alcohol misuse in acute medical admissions is feasible and identifies patients at high risk of liver disease (58). Inclusion criteria should be defined and end-points may include prevention of liver-related mortality and complications of liver disease.…”

Editorial: looking for patients at risk of cirrhosis in the general population—many needles in a haystack

“…This interaction may be due to shared pathogenic mechanisms including genetic background (PNPLA3, TM6SF2 and MBOAT) . Questionnaires, such as AUDIT, can detect alcohol dependence beyond hazardous alcohol consumption in clinical practice . However, alcohol consumption seems to have a different effect on the liver depending upon baseline risks for liver disease .…”