The prevalence of comorbid alcohol use disorder in the presence of personality disorder: Systematic review and explanatory modelling

Abstract

Comorbid personality disorder (PD) worsens outcome in mental state disorders; however, the proportion of people with PD who have an alcohol use disorder (AUD) is poorly described. A systematic review of the literature for studies reporting on AUD in those with PD was completed. Lifetime prevalence figures were meta-analysed using multilevel models, accounting for type of PD and population examined. Sixteen unique studies contributed data to the analysis. PD type accounted for most of the heterogeneity in lifetime AUD prevalence. People with antisocial PD had the highest lifetime AUD prevalence, at 76.7%, followed by those with borderline PD at 52.2%, while those with other forms of PD, or undifferentiated PD, had a prevalence of 38.9%. Lifetime AUD prevalence was not significantly higher in clinical compared with population samples. The majority of people with PD experience an AUD at some time in the life course. This has clinical screening and management implications. Copyright © 2018 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.