Patients with chronic alcohol abuse in Dutch family practices

Routine data from the Dutch Transition project on 236 027 episodes of care collected by 54 family physicians (FPs) for 93 297 patient years in their listed practices and classified with the International Classification of Primary Care, were used to analyse chronic alcohol abuse episodes of care in Dutch family practices. Data on 332 episodes are presented. In a subsample with a 4-year registration period, 70 patients were identified. Important reasons for an encounter are the patient's explicit presentation of the problem and the FPs' initiatives. FPs show considerable sensitivity to psychosocial problems, including alcohol abuse. It is concluded that over the years registered FPs actively deal with chronic alcohol abuse in approximately 2% of all visiting men aged 25-64 years. In an average Dutch family practice with 2200 listed patients, approximately 20 patients are known by the FP to have chronic alcohol abuse. Real life studies in registered family practice populations are necessary to better establish how patients with abundant alcohol consumption as a risk factor develop the chronic alcohol abuse episode of care, and what FPs can do to prevent this effectively.