Alcohol-related disabilities in general hospital patients: a critical assessment of the evidence

Thirty-one publications containing estimates of the prevalence of alcohol-related problems within general hospitals are assessed critically to determine whether the alcohol dependence syndrome or other alcohol-related disabilities were the subjects of study, and whether these were causal to admission or incidental findings. A classification scheme within which these studies may be fitted is introduced, and an attempt is made to gauge the sizes of the problems by collating results within each classification category. No consistency is found, however; and this is attributed to difficulties of definition as well as to deficiencies in survey techniques. Some suggestions for better-designed studies are made. Until these are carried out it will not be possible to provide valid to reliable estimates of the extent of the problem.