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Alcohol use by parents who present their child to a paediatric emergency department
S Sharma1, K Llewelyn, J Jureidini
1Department of Psychiatry, University of Adelaide, Australia.
Insights
Parental alcohol misuse poses risks to children and is often undetected in pediatric settings. This study found high rates of hazardous drinking in fathers, with poor documentation in medical records.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Emergency Medicine
- Public Health
- Addiction Psychiatry
Background:
- Parental alcohol misuse is a significant risk factor for child welfare.
- Identification of parental alcohol use is often overlooked in pediatric healthcare settings.
- Effective screening and documentation are crucial for early intervention.
Purpose of the Study:
- To quantify alcohol consumption among parents attending a pediatric emergency department.
- To evaluate the accuracy and completeness of documenting parental alcohol use by pediatric residents.
- To highlight the prevalence of undetected hazardous drinking in this population.
Main Methods:
- A sample of parents with children presenting to a pediatric emergency department were interviewed.
- The AUDIT CORE questionnaire was administered to assess parental alcohol use.
- Child case notes were retrospectively reviewed for documentation of parental alcohol consumption.
Main Results:
- Interviews were conducted with 193 parents.
- While overall per capita alcohol use and hazardous drinking in females were lower than general population rates, hazardous drinking was prevalent among fathers.
- Only 1% of reviewed medical records documented parental alcohol use.
Conclusions:
- Despite potentially lower average alcohol intake compared to the general population, a substantial proportion of parents attending pediatric emergency departments exhibit undetected hazardous drinking.
- There is a critical need for improved screening and documentation of parental alcohol use in pediatric settings.
- Addressing parental alcohol misuse is essential for child protection and well-being.
Objectives:
Parental alcohol misuse exposes children to risk, but is poorly identified in paediatric settings. We aimed to (i) measure the alcohol use in parents of a sample of children attending emergency and (ii) assess the quality of documentation of this alcohol use by paediatric residents.
Method:
Parents of children presenting to the Emergency Department of a children's hospital were interviewed regarding their alcohol use, and each completed an AUDIT CORE questionnaire. The child's case notes were reviewed for documentation of parental alcohol use.
Results:
One hundred and ninety-three parents were interviewed. Although per capita alcohol use for both sexes, and hazardous drinking for females were found to be significantly less than general population figures, rates of hazardous drinking were high for fathers. Yet only 1% of case notes reviewed contained any documentation of parental alcohol use.
Conclusion:
This small study suggests that although average alcohol intake amongst parents presenting their children to a paediatric emergency department may be lower than for the general population, there is a significant prevalence of undetected hazardous drinking amongst parents.