Medical admissions in men: the risk among drinkers.

Information on alcohol consumption was elicited by the same method from men in a general population survey and from male medical inpatients in a hospital serving that population. A measure of risk controlling for age, the logarithm of the odds ratio, showed that for liver disorders, upper gastrointestinal disorders, myocardial infarction, other cardiovascular disorders, and respiratory disorders, rising consumption of alcohol was related to increased risk of hospital admission relative to abstention. The risk of admission for the remaining heterogeneous category of disorders was lower than that for abstention, perhaps reflecting the effect of chronic illness on drinking habits, and also suggesting that the link between alcohol consumption and medical diagnoses is not simply due to greater frankness about drinking in hospital inpatients.