The assessment of alcohol abuse among injured patients

The purpose of this paper was to study the frequency of alcohol abuse among injured patients between 15 and 64 years of age. This prospective study was made during a 6-week period in the autumn of 1983. The sample consisted of 166 patients (6.8 per cent of the total number of injured patients during the period of study). The patients were interviewed and one part of the questionnaire took the form of four CAGE questions. Among these 166 patients, 31.3 per cent were CAGE positive. Of these alcohol abusers, four-fifths were male and one-fifth female. CAGE-positive patients had elevated S-GGT and S-ASAT in 44 per cent of cases and elevated S-ALAT in 24 per cent. The large number of heavy drinkers found are an important target of alcohol education.