ABSTRACT
This prospective study aimed to describe alcohol habits in patients with chronic pain compared with those in a matched control group from the general Swedish population. In total, 100 consecutive patients enrolled were matched against 100 individuals in a control group on the basis of age and sex. Alcohol habits were measured using the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test in both groups. The patients were recruited if they underwent a biopsychosocial pain analysis for possible participation in pain rehabilitation. The patients with chronic pain drank alcohol significantly less, less often, in smaller quantities, and became intoxicated less than the control group did. The study was rather small and at a single site, but its strengths were the comprehensive and simple design and the possibility to describe the sample's representativeness compared with other clinics on the basis of data from a national quality register.