INTRODUCTION: People misusing substances are overrepresented in health settings. Substance misuse can also be an underlying factor complicating medical diagnosis and management. AIMS: (i) To establish the prevalence of substance misuse in the general hospital inpatient population; and (ii) to examine the relationship between medical diagnosis and substance misuse problem as identified by screening tools. METHOD: This study adopted a three-step screening approach including a prospective questionnaire survey, interview, and case note review. Subjects included all adult patients admitted to a London teaching hospital over a 1-week period. RESULTS: Seventy percent completed the questionnaire. Twenty-three percent was currently smoking, 14% was rated positive for alcohol misuse, and 12% positive for drug misuse. Only 65% of patients was screened for smoking, 54% for alcohol, and 9% for other substances. CONCLUSIONS: People misusing one substance were more likely to be misusing others, hence the importance of screening all patients for all substances. Doctors were screening a small percentage of patients and they identified and intervened with only the severe ones.
INTRODUCTION:People misusing substances are overrepresented in health settings. Substance misuse can also be an underlying factor complicating medical diagnosis and management. AIMS: (i) To establish the prevalence of substance misuse in the general hospital inpatient population; and (ii) to examine the relationship between medical diagnosis and substance misuse problem as identified by screening tools. METHOD: This study adopted a three-step screening approach including a prospective questionnaire survey, interview, and case note review. Subjects included all adult patients admitted to a London teaching hospital over a 1-week period. RESULTS: Seventy percent completed the questionnaire. Twenty-three percent was currently smoking, 14% was rated positive for alcohol misuse, and 12% positive for drug misuse. Only 65% of patients was screened for smoking, 54% for alcohol, and 9% for other substances. CONCLUSIONS:People misusing one substance were more likely to be misusing others, hence the importance of screening all patients for all substances. Doctors were screening a small percentage of patients and they identified and intervened with only the severe ones.
Authors: Emmert Roberts; Rachel Morse; Sophie Epstein; Matthew Hotopf; David Leon; Colin Drummond Journal: Addiction Date: 2019-07-03 Impact factor: 6.526
Authors: Joseph V Pergolizzi; Peter Magnusson; Paul J Christo; Jo Ann LeQuang; Frank Breve; Kailyn Mitchell; Giustino Varrassi Journal: Front Pain Res (Lausanne) Date: 2021-11-16
Authors: Kristin L Serowik; Kimberly A Yonkers; Kathryn Gilstad-Hayden; Ariadna Forray; Paula Zimbrean; Steve Martino Journal: J Gen Intern Med Date: 2020-10-27 Impact factor: 5.128
Authors: Mohammad Shoaib Hamrah; Mohammad Hassan Hamrah; Mohammad Hussain Hamrah; Ahmad Edris Hamrah; Toba Dahi; Bagher Pahlavanzade; Abdurrahman Charkazi; Mohammad Hashem Hamrah Journal: Avicenna J Med Date: 2019-10-03