Subject(s)
Agranulocytosis/chemically induced , Agranulocytosis/genetics , Asian People/genetics , Chromosomes, Human, Pair 12/genetics , Clozapine/adverse effects , Genetic Predisposition to Disease/genetics , Antipsychotic Agents/adverse effects , Case-Control Studies , Humans , Japan , Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide/geneticsABSTRACT
In Japan, many problems related to alcohol are pointed out from before. We believe that there is a unique drinking culture in Okinawa, such as a large amount of alcohol. Therefore, we estimate many people in Okinawa have a drinking problem. We conducted a survey of patients who visited general hospital (medical or surgical or orthopedic) in 2007. The purpose of this study is to collect basic data for introducing alcoholics to specialized treatment as early as possible, detecting the person who drink large amounts of alcohol, performing early intervention for people who drink large amount of alcohol, and advancing cooperation with specialized medical agencies of alcohol. As a result, Among the patients who visited general hospital in Okinawa, many problem drinkers are concentrated in the young age. and they have strong fears of health. The possibility of early intervention with intervention techniques, such as brief intervention, has been suggested.
Subject(s)
Alcoholism/therapy , Ethanol/adverse effects , Hospitals, General/statistics & numerical data , Adult , Aged , Aged, 80 and over , Alcohol Drinking/epidemiology , Alcoholism/diagnosis , Early Medical Intervention/methods , Female , Humans , Japan/epidemiology , Male , Middle Aged , Surveys and Questionnaires , Young AdultABSTRACT
In Japan, abstinence has traditionally been considered the sole method of treatment for alcohol dependence. In recent years there have also been reports that a small percentage of alcoholics are able to regain control of their drinking, but thus far there have been few reports in Japan on reducing the amount of alcohol consumed in alcohol dependence. In the present study we therefore conducted a survey of outpatients who were examined on a certain day at 4 general hospitals in Okinawa Prefecture. Of the 421 examinees, 5% of the males and 4% of the females had a score of 20 or more on the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) and were suspected of alcohol dependence. When those suspected of alcohol dependence were asked if they wanted to decrease their level of alcohol consumption, 90% of the males and 78% of the females replied that they wanted to reduce it. We also conducted a survey of the post-discharge outcome of alcohol-dependent inpatients at the National Hospital Organization Ryukyu Hospital. The Hospital is a psychiatric hospital that has a specialized unit for alcohol dependence, and treatment based on cognitive behavioral therapy is conducted there. The results for the outcome 1 year after their discharge from the Hospital of the 116 patients admitted for the treatment of alcohol dependence showed that 31% were able to remain abstinent, 61% were unable to remain abstinent, and 8% had died. The alcohol-related problems of some of those who were unable to remain abstinent had become mild, i.e., they had been able to return to work, their violent behavior while inebriated had improved, etc. Many alcoholics want to reduce the amount of alcohol they consume as a goal of treatment, and some of them actually are able to reduce their alcohol consumption. The details will be left to future research, but it may be possible for a reduction in alcohol consumption to be the goal of treatment for a certain type of alcoholics.
Subject(s)
Alcohol Drinking , Alcoholism/therapy , Adult , Alcoholism/psychology , Female , Goals , Humans , Japan , Male , Middle Aged , Patient Discharge , Young AdultABSTRACT
We conducted a survey of alcohol-dependent patients at the time of their first visit and physicians in regard to the goals of treatment of alcohol dependence. There were 99 replies from patients, and replies from physicians related to 64 of the patients' replies were also received, and in 25.0% of them it was judged possible to make reducing the amount of alcohol consumed a temporary or final goal. Having a mild drinking problem, the absence of a personality disorder or mental retardation, the presence of a strong motivation in regard to treatment, etc., were cited as reasons for the physicians' judgments. In addition, the number of diagnostic criteria of the ICD-10 for dependence syndrome that applied was shown to be significantly related to the judgments regarding treatment goals. However, as for Alcohol Dependence Scale (ADS), there was no significant relationship with the treatment goal.
