Lifestyle factors in somatic patients with and without potential alcohol problems

Abstract

Background: In the present study, we investigated the overall lifestyles of patients with hazardous alcohol use and alcohol dependence who were admitted to the hospital and investigated unhealthy lifestyle factors and their clustering in inpatients. Methods: Patients admitted to the gastrointestinal, neurologic or orthopedic departments at Odense University Hospital or to the emergency department at Aabenraa Hospital in the inclusion period, October 2013 to June 2016, completed a lifestyle questionnaire asking questions about their diet, alcohol consumption, exercise and smoking habits. Patients were divided into three groups depending on their score from the alcohol use disorder identification test, which was embedded in the lifestyle questionnaire, and odds ratios were calculated using logistic regression. Results: Patients with alcohol dependence had statistically significantly higher odds of being smokers, having unhealthy diets and being physically inactive compared with patients without alcohol problems. Among patients with hazardous alcohol drinking, we found an increased occurrence of smokers and an inverse association between hazardous alcohol drinking and being physically inactive. Many of the patients had attempted to change their unhealthy lifestyles. Conclusion: We found that alcohol problems are related to a clustering of other lifestyle factors and that many of the patients admitted to certain departments showed signs of various kinds of alcohol problems. Therefore, specific hospital departments could be opportune settings for preventive alcohol interventions.