Screening for alcoholism in a community hospital

A study was conducted in a community hospital to assess the prevalence of alcoholism, to identify physician referral patterns after being notified that their patients received positive scores on an alcoholism-screening questionnaire, and to address the validity of the administered patient-screening questionnaire. Of 396 patients who completed the questionnaire, 14 percent (56) had positive scores of the Michigan Alcoholism Screening Test (MAST). Men were more likely than women to have scores indicative or suggestive of alcoholism. The hospital services with the highest percentage of patients with MAST positive scores were orthopedics, 18 percent; surgery, 19 percent; and medicine, 14 percent. Nineteen percent of those who drank alcohol had positive MAST scores. Requests for alcoholism consultation were made for only 2 of the 56 patients. A chart audit revealed that the diagnosis of alcoholism was recorded in 5 of the 56 MAST-positive patients' charts. Results are compared with other similar studies.