Prevalence of Polysubstance Abuse and Dual Diagnosis in Patients Admitted to Alcohol Rehabilitation Units for Alcohol-Related Problems in Italy: Changes in 15 Years.

AIMS: Alcohol abuse has long been known as a disease with social and economic burden to society. Given the complex nature of alcohol treatment, it is worthwhile to examine the change over time of patients admitted to residential alcohol abuse rehabilitation units. METHODS: The data were collected from two Italian projects on alcoholics performed in the mid-1990s (ASSALT) and in 2009 (CORRAL), respectively. Categorical variables were considered in terms of absolute and relative frequencies. Comparisons of relative frequencies between groups were assessed by means of Fisher's exact test. Mixed logistic regression models were fitted to CORRAL data to identify the predictors of the probability of being a polysubstance abuser or having a dual diagnosis. The association estimates were reported as adjusted odds ratios and relative 95% confidence intervals. RESULTS: Compared to the mid-1990s, in 2009 patients were older (P= 0.0003), with a higher level of education (P= 0.0204), with fewer comorbidities (liver disease except cirrhosis, P < 0.0001; polyneuropathy, P= 0.0001), more frequently polysubstance abusers (P < 0.0001), affected by dual diagnosis (P < 0.0001). In 2009, the probability of being a polysubstance abuser was higher in younger and in patients with dual psychiatric diagnosis. Female gender and polysubstance abuse were positively associated to the probability of being affected by dual psychiatric diagnosis. CONCLUSIONS: The increment of patients admitted to residential programs for alcohol dependence with polysubstance abuse and/or dual psychiatric diagnoses suggests the need to pay more attention to both psychological/psychiatric interventions and internal medicine/physical rehabilitation. SHORT SUMMARY: The results of this study suggest that further research is needed to identify the best treatment strategy that is safe and effective for the new population of alcoholics.

Transmission of wireless neural signals through a 0.18 µm CMOS low-power amplifier.

In the field of Brain Machine Interfaces (BMI) researchers still are not able to produce clinically viable solutions that meet the requirements of long-term operation without the use of wires or batteries. Another problem is neural compatibility with the electrode probes. One of the possible ways of approaching these problems is the use of semiconductor biocompatible materials (silicon carbide) combined with an integrated circuit designed to operate with low power consumption. This paper describes a low-power neural signal amplifier chip, named Cortex, fabricated using 0.18 µm CMOS process technology with all electronics integrated in an area of 0.40 mm(2). The chip has 4 channels, total power consumption of only 144 µW, and is impedance matched to silicon carbide biocompatible electrodes.

[Alcohol-addiction inpatient: characteristics of patients and rehabilitation program]. / La residenzialità alcologica ospedaliera: caratteristiche dei pazienti e dei percorsi terapeutici/riabilitativi.

AIM: The treatment of alcohol addiction in Italy has had a progressive evolution of therapeutic structures for in-and outpatients. During the last 20 years there had been a crescent presence of short residential treatment facilities (1-6 months) characterized by a high level of medical and psychotherapeutic intervention. About two years ago 12 of them jointed together in an association called CORRAL (COordinamento of Residenzialità Riabilitive Alcologiche). The aim of this study was to describe the socio-demographic medical and other characteristics of the patients coming for this type of treatment and to describe the characteristics of the residential treatment itself including referring and aftercare. METHODS: Two thousand sixty-one hospitalized patients of the 12 rehabilitative alcohol units were examined by using a questionnaire and collecting various sociodemographic variables and clinical diagnosis of the patients. Even it was asked who had referred the patients, the characteristics of the residential treatment and of the planned aftercare. RESULTS: The present residential facilities are mainly distributed in the North of Italy. The typical patient is male, with a high school instruction and with a comorbidity regarding psychiatric and liver disorders. The majority of the patients were referred by the public ambulatory services for addictions (SerT/SerD). The characteristics of the residential treatment were medical, pharmacological and psychotherapeutic interventions with a high intensity and the presence of a general-purpose staff. CONCLUSIONS: This study outlined a model of residential rehabilitation of alcohol disorders characterized by short duration and a complex, intense therapeutic intervention mainly addressed to patients with a severe clinical condition and a low level of social problems. Further research should be useful to understand better which sort of patient characteristics obtain a better clinical result and for that even economically a major effectiveness from this type of residential treatment.

Histological features after liver transplantation in alcoholic cirrhotics.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Though alcoholic cirrhosis is a common indication for liver transplantation, it carries the risk of alcohol recidivism and consequent graft failure. This study aims to evaluate the effect of alcohol recidivism on survival rates and histological parameters in patients transplanted for alcoholic cirrhosis, with and without hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. METHODS: Fifty-one out of 189 consecutive transplanted patients underwent psychosocial evaluation and liver biopsy at 6 and 12 months, then yearly after transplantation. RESULTS: The cumulative 84 month survival rate was identical in patients transplanted for alcoholic (51%) and non-alcoholic cirrhosis (52%). No difference emerged between anti-HCV negative vs. positive alcoholic cirrhosis patients. Psycho-social evaluation revealed alcohol recidivism in 11/34 long-term survivors, but this did not affect overall survival rate in patients with or without HCV. In anti-HCV negative cases, fatty changes and pericellular fibrosis were significantly more common in heavy drinkers than in occasional drinkers and abstainers. When HCV status was considered regardless of alcohol intake, fibrosis was significantly more frequent in patients with HCV. CONCLUSION: Alcohol recidivism after transplantation in alcoholic cirrhosis patients does not affect survival, irrespective of HCV status. Fatty changes and pericellular fibrosis are the most relevant histological signs of heavy alcohol intake.

Long-term medical and psycho-social evaluation of patients undergoing orthotopic liver transplantation for alcoholic liver disease.

The major concern in transplanting patients with alcoholic liver disease (ALD) is the high rate of alcohol recidivism. Our aim was to assess the long-term outcome of liver transplantation (OLT) in a group of ALD patients in terms of post-OLT alcohol recidivism and its relationship with pre-OLT psychosocial variables and medical follow up. Fifty-one ALD patients underwent strict medical and psychosocial evaluation before and after OLT. Alcohol abuse was recorded in 60% and alcohol dependence in 40% of patients before OLT. The 5-year survival was similar to the one observed in non-ALD transplanted patients (64 vs 56%). Alcohol recidivism was observed in 33% of transplanted patients, 64% of whom were occasional and 36% were heavy drinkers. The admission of alcoholism by the patient and his/her family prior to OLT significantly predicted abstinence after OLT. A multidisciplinary approach evaluating medical and psycho-social variables before OLT and a close follow up after OLT are mandatory for ALD patients.

Dependence, locus of control, parental bonding, and personality disorders: a study in alcoholics and controls.

Personality traits, socio-cultural factors, and dysfunctional family systems are considered to be important in the aetiology and clinical development of alcoholism. Particularly, conflict and issues involving psychological (emotional) dependence have long been associated with alcohol addiction. The present work, part of a more extensive study to validate a new rating scale to measure emotional dependence, the Dependence Self-rating Scale (DSRS), assesses dependence, orientation of locus of control, parental bonding perceptions, and personality disorders (PDs) in alcoholic and non-alcoholic samples. The alcoholics showed a prevalence of PDs of 31.3%. The most frequent is the Schizoid PD (40%) followed by the Dependent PD (20%). Subjects with antisocial PD were not included in our selection criteria. The alcoholics scored higher on the DSRS than the controls, but this difference was not statistically significant. By making a comparison between subjects with and without PDs, the DSRS scores were significantly higher in alcoholics with PDs. No significant differences between alcoholics and non-alcoholics in the parental perceptions and locus of control were seen. These findings are sufficiently coherent to encourage further studies on psychological emotional dependence in alcoholics using the DSRS.