Persistence of substance use-related hospital utilization among psychiatric consultation patients

Among 86 consecutive consultation-liaison (C-L) patients with current substance use-related hospital attendance, the case records revealed an average history of 5.9 years in male patients and 5.3 years in female patients of repeated substance use-related hospital visits. A history of at least 1 year was found in 60% (52/86) of patients. The history had started at the age of early 30s with attempted suicide as the most common principal diagnosis. By the age of 40, there had been several hospital visits for various health problems. However, 48% (41/86) of the patients had never received substance use treatment. It appeared that opportunities to intervene with substance use were frequently missed on hospital encounters, a finding also observed in earlier studies.