Harmful alcohol use among acutely ill hospitalized medical patients in Oslo and Moscow: A cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: The aim was to estimate the prevalence of harmful alcohol use in relation to socio-demographic characteristics among acutely ill medical patients, and examine identification measures of alcohol use, including the alcohol biomarker phosphatidylethanol 16:0/18:1 (PEth). METHODS: A cross-sectional study, lasting one year at one hospital in Oslo, Norway and one in Moscow, Russia recruiting acute medically ill patients (≥ 18 years), able to give informed consent. Self-reported data on socio-demographics, mental distress (Symptom Check List-5), alcohol use (Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test-4 (AUDIT-4) and alcohol consumption past 24 h were collected. PEth and alcohol concentration were measured in whole blood. RESULTS: Of 5883 participating patients, 19.2% in Moscow and 21.1% in Oslo were harmful alcohol users, measured by AUDIT-4, while the prevalence of PEth-positive patients was lower: 11.4% in Oslo, 14.3% in Moscow. Men in Moscow were more likely to be harmful users by AUDIT-4 and PEth compared to men in Oslo, except of those being ≥ 71 years. Women in Oslo were more likely to be harmful users compared to those in Moscow by AUDIT-4, but not by PEth for those aged < 61 years. CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of harmful alcohol use was high at both study sites. The prevalence of harmful alcohol use was lower when assessed by PEth compared to AUDIT-4. Thus, self-reporting was the most sensitive measure in revealing harmful alcohol use among all groups except for women in Moscow. Hence, screening and identification with objective biomarkers and self-reporting might be a method for early intervention.

[The comparative analysis of the methods for the determination of phosphatidylethanol in blood as a biological marker of alcohol abuse]. / Sravnitel'nyi analiz metodik opredeleniia fosfatidilétanola v krovi kak biomarkera zloupotrebleniia alkogolem.

The confirmation of the fact of alcohol abuse is currently an important problem of both medical and social significance. Of all biological markers of alcohol consumption presently in use, blood phosphatidylethanol (PEth) is considered to be most sensitive and specific one. Therefore it has promising prospects for the further application. There is no universally accepted method for the calculation of the phosphatidylethanol concentration in human blood. For this reason, the present article places emphasis on the comparative characteristic of various methods for the determination of this substance.

[The activity of drug addiction service of the Russian Federation: an assessment of statistical parameters and an analysis of results].

The authors studied changes in the structure of drug addiction services, the dynamics of outpatient and inpatient referrals for drug addiction treatment and effectiveness of drug addiction services in 2011 compared to the preceding period. There was a reduction of availability of drug treatment services due to the reduction of the number of drug addiction units and the depletion of human resource potential. The lack of structural development of rehabilitation sector of drug care services and low rates of its development as well as the decrease in the number of patients seeking treatment are highlighted. It has been concluded that the drug addiction services require reorganization of its regulatory and legal framework and need innovative organizational and management decisions and human resources trained in innovative thinking and technologies.

[The prevalence of the use of narcotics and other psychoactive substances in Russia today]. / Rasprostranennost' upotrebleniia narkotikov i drugikh psikhoaktivnykh veshchestv v Rossii na sovremennom étape.

The epidemiological analysis of morbidity in drug addiction in Russia for the period of 25 years is presented. As shown in this analysis, by 1992 the number of drug addicts rose twofold in comparison with 1986, and by 1998 this number rose tenfold, reaching 109.5 per 100,000 of the population. The total number of persons given medical assistance on account of the abuse of narcotic and non-narcotic substances exceeded 295,000. The analysis states that the ratio of persons having problems with drugs and applying for medical assistance to the actual number of drug addicts is 1:7, i.e. the number of drug addicts among the population exceeds 2 million persons. The spread of drug addiction among adolescents, which grew eightfold during the last 10 years, is a particularly unfavorable phenomenon. The established tendencies towards the growth of morbidity rates in individual groups of population in Russia and the data obtained by questioning among the population are indicative of growth in the spread of drug addiction. This regularity is confirmed by the growing proportion of children, adolescents and women among those who applied for medical assistance for the first time.

Fighting alcoholism among industrial workers

In the Soviet Union, strenuous efforts are being made to involve the broad mass of industrial employees in combating the abuse of alcohol. Committees have been set up for this purpose and special facilities for the treatment and rehabilitation of alcoholics have been provided in workplaces