Basic Summary for Alcohol abuse

Main name of condition: Alcohol abuse
Other names or spellings:

What is Alcohol abuse?
  Brief description of Alcohol abuse: Excessive use of alcohol ranging from binge drinking to severe alcoholism
  Parent types of Alcohol abuse: Chemical addiction, Behavioral disorders, Adolescent conditions, Youth risk behavior, Psychological disorders, Psychiatric disorders
  Types of Alcohol abuse: Binge drinking, Alcohol dependency, Alcoholism

How many people get Alcohol abuse?
  Prevalance of Alcohol abuse: estimated 15.1 million people: 15.1 million alcohol-abusing or alcohol-dependent individuals and 4.6 million are women (NWHIC); nearly 14 million Americans (NIAAA)
  Prevalance Rate of Alcohol abuse: approx 1 in 18 or 5.55% or 15.1 million people in USA [about data]
  Prevalance of Alcohol abuse: It is estimated that of the 15.1 million alcohol-abusing or alcohol-dependent individuals in the United States, approximately 4.6 million (nearly one-third) are women.¹

Who gets Alcohol abuse?
  Patient Profile for Alcohol abuse: Usually adults
  Gender Profile for Alcohol abuse: Men more than women about 2:1.
  Gender Profile for Alcohol abuse: Women also represent 25% of alcoholism clients in traditional treatment centers in the United States.¹

How serious is Alcohol abuse?
Deaths for Alcohol abuse: 19,171 persons died of alcohol-induced causes in 1999 USA (NVSR Sep 2001)
Complications of Alcohol abuse: see complications of Alcohol abuse

What causes Alcohol abuse?
Causes of Alcohol abuse: see causes of Alcohol abuse
Risk factors for Alcohol abuse: see risk factors for Alcohol abuse

What are the symptoms of Alcohol abuse?
Symptoms of Alcohol abuse: see symptoms of Alcohol abuse

How is it treated?
Treatments for Alcohol abuse: see treatments for Alcohol abuse

Society issues for Alcohol abuse

Cost statistics for Alcohol abuse: The following are statistics from various sources about costs and Alcohol abuse:

Estimated $52,123,000 spent in public hospitals on alcohol or drug use and disorders in Australia 2001-02 (AIHW National Hospital Morbidity Database, Australia’s Health 2004, AIHW)
Estimated $17,172,000 spent in public hospitals on alcohol and drug use and disorders in Australia 2001-02 (AIHW National Hospital Morbidity Database, Australia’s Health 2004, AIHW)

Hospitalization statistics for Alcohol abuse: The following are statistics from various sources about hospitalizations and Alcohol abuse:

alcohol related mental and behavioural disorders resulted in 13,864 hospitalisations in Australia 2001-02 (AIHW Hospital Morbidity Database 2001-02, Australia’s Health 2004, AIHW)
Alcohol related mental and behavioural disorders accounted for 82,708 patient days in hospitals in Australia 2001-02 (AIHW Hospital Morbidity Database 2001-02, Australia’s Health 2004, AIHW)
0.26% (33,701) of hospital consultant episodes were for mental and behavioural disorders due to alcohol use in England 2002-03 (Hospital Episode Statistics, Department of Health, England, 2002-03)
86% of hospital consultant episodes for mental and behavioural disorders due to alcohol use required hospital admission in England 2002-03 (Hospital Episode Statistics, Department of Health, England, 2002-03)
69% of hospital consultant episodes for mental and behavioural disorders due to alcohol use were for men in England 2002-03 (Hospital Episode Statistics, Department of Health, England, 2002-03)
31% of hospital consultant episodes for mental and behavioural disorders due to alcohol use were for women in England 2002-03 (Hospital Episode Statistics, Department of Health, England, 2002-03)
79% of hospital consultant episodes for mental and behavioural disorders due to alcohol use required emergency hospital admission in England 2002-03 (Hospital Episode Statistics, Department of Health, England, 2002-03)
10.4 days was the mean length of stay in hospitals for mental and behavioural disorders due to alcohol use in England 2002-03 (Hospital Episode Statistics, Department of Health, England, 2002-03)
4 days was the median length of stay in hospitals for mental and behavioural disorders due to alcohol use in England 2002-03 (Hospital Episode Statistics, Department of Health, England, 2002-03)
41 was the mean age of patients hospitalised for mental and behavioural disorders due to alcohol use in England 2002-03 (Hospital Episode Statistics, Department of Health, England, 2002-03)
82% of hospital consultant episodes for mental and behavioural disorders due to alcohol use occurred in 15-59 year olds in England 2002-03 (Hospital Episode Statistics, Department of Health, England, 2002-03)
3% of hospital consultant episodes for mental and behavioural disorders due to alcohol use occurred in people over 75 in England 2002-03 (Hospital Episode Statistics, Department of Health, England, 2002-03)
0% of hospital consultant episodes for mental and behavioural disorders due to alcohol use were single day episodes in England 2002-03 (Hospital Episode Statistics, Department of Health, England, 2002-03)
0.53% (276,290) of hospital bed days were for mental and behavioural disorders due to alcohol use in England 2002-03 (Hospital Episode Statistics, Department of Health, England, 2002-03)
0.012% (1,526) of hospital consultant episodes were for toxic effect of alcohol in England 2002-03 (Hospital Episode Statistics, Department of Health, England, 2002-03)
92% of hospital consultant episodes for toxic effect of alcohol required hospital admission in England 2002-03 (Hospital Episode Statistics, Department of Health, England, 2002-03)
52% of hospital consultant episodes for toxic effect of alcohol were for men in England 2002-03 (Hospital Episode Statistics, Department of Health, England, 2002-03)
48% of hospital consultant episodes for toxic effect of alcohol were for women in England 2002-03 (Hospital Episode Statistics, Department of Health, England, 2002-03)
98% of hospital consultant episodes for toxic effect of alcohol required emergency hospital admission in England 2002-03 (Hospital Episode Statistics, Department of Health, England, 2002-03)
1.3 days was the mean length of stay in hospitals for toxic effect of alcohol in England 2002-03 (Hospital Episode Statistics, Department of Health, England, 2002-03)
1 days was the median length of stay in hospitals for toxic effect of alcohol in England 2002-03 (Hospital Episode Statistics, Department of Health, England, 2002-03)
24 was the mean age of patients hospitalised for toxic effect of alcohol in England 2002-03 (Hospital Episode Statistics, Department of Health, England, 2002-03)
61% of hospital consultant episodes for toxic effect of alcohol occurred in 15-59 year olds in England 2002-03 (Hospital Episode Statistics, Department of Health, England, 2002-03)
2% of hospital consultant episodes for toxic effect of alcohol occurred in people over 75 in England 2002-03 (Hospital Episode Statistics, Department of Health, England, 2002-03)
0% of hospital consultant episodes for toxic effect of alcohol were single day episodes in England 2002-03 (Hospital Episode Statistics, Department of Health, England, 2002-03)
0.003% (1,801) of hospital bed days were for toxic effect of alcohol in England 2002-03 (Hospital Episode Statistics, Department of Health, England, 2002-03)
Hospitalization statistics in Australia in psychiatric hospitals:
- 944 hospital episodes in public psychiatric hospitals were for mental, behavioural disorders due to use of alcohol in Australia 2001-02 (Australian Hospital Data, AIHW, Australia, 2001-02)
- 7.42% of hospitalisations in public psychiatric hospitals for mental, behavioural disorders due to use of alcohol were single day episodes in Australia 2001-02 (Australian Hospital Data, AIHW, Australia, 2001-02)
- 99% of hospitalisations in public psychiatric hospitals for mental, behavioural disorders due to use of alcohol were by public patients in Australia 2001-02 (Australian Hospital Data, AIHW, Australia, 2001-02)
- Hospitalisations for mental, behavioural disorders due to use of alcohol at public psychiatric hospitals occurred in 0.5 people per 10,000 population in Australia 2001-02 (Australian Hospital Data, AIHW, Australia, 2001-02)
- 31.6 days was the mean length of stay for mental, behavioural disorders due to use of alcohol in public psychiatric hospitals in Australia 2001-02 (Australian Hospital Data, AIHW, Australia, 2001-02)
- Excluding same day episodes, 34.1 days was the mean length of stay in public psychiatric hospitals for mental, behavioural disorders due to use of alcohol in Australia 2001-02 (Australian Hospital Data, AIHW, Australia, 2001-02)
Hospitalization statistics in Australia for public hospitals:
- 0.005% (1) of hospital episodes for mental and behavioural disorders due to use of alcohol in public hospitals occurred in males under 1 year old in Australia 2001-02 (Australian Hospital Data, AIHW, Australia, 2001-02)
- 0.005% (1) of hospital episodes for mental and behavioural disorders due to use of alcohol in public hospitals occurred in males aged 1 to 4 years in Australia 2001-02 (Australian Hospital Data, AIHW, Australia, 2001-02)
- 0.8% (149) of hospital episodes for mental and behavioural disorders due to use of alcohol in public hospitals occurred in males aged 5 to 14 years in Australia 2001-02 (Australian Hospital Data, AIHW, Australia, 2001-02)
- 8.72% (1,621) of hospital episodes for mental and behavioural disorders due to use of alcohol in public hospitals occurred in males aged 15 to 24 years in Australia 2001-02 (Australian Hospital Data, AIHW, Australia, 2001-02)
- 14.89% (2,768) of hospital episodes for mental and behavioural disorders due to use of alcohol in public hospitals occurred in males aged 25 to 34 years in Australia 2001-02 (Australian Hospital Data, AIHW, Australia, 2001-02)
- 23.15% (4,304) of hospital episodes for mental and behavioural disorders due to use of alcohol in public hospitals occurred in males aged 35 to 44 years in Australia 2001-02 (Australian Hospital Data, AIHW, Australia, 2001-02)
- 27.43% (5,099) of hospital episodes for mental and behavioural disorders due to use of alcohol in public hospitals occurred in males aged 45 to 54 years in Australia 2001-02 (Australian Hospital Data, AIHW, Australia, 2001-02)
- 16.1% (2,969) of hospital episodes for mental and behavioural disorders due to use of alcohol in public hospitals occurred in males aged 55 to 64 years in Australia 2001-02 (Australian Hospital Data, AIHW, Australia, 2001-02)
- 5.2% (962) of hospital episodes for mental and behavioural disorders due to use of alcohol in public hospitals occurred in males aged 65 to 74 years in Australia 2001-02 (Australian Hospital Data, AIHW, Australia, 2001-02)
- 3% (645) of hospital episodes for mental and behavioural disorders due to use of alcohol in public hospitals occurred in males aged 75 to 84 years in Australia 2001-02 (Australian Hospital Data, AIHW, Australia, 2001-02)
- 0.24% (44) of hospital episodes for mental and behavioural disorders due to use of alcohol in public hospitals occurred in males aged over 85 in Australia 2001-02 (Australian Hospital Data, AIHW, Australia, 2001-02)

Footnotes:
1. excerpt from Alcohol Abuse and Treatment: NWHIC

Last revision: Nov 8, 2003

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