[Substance abuse among patients in a department of general medicine]

We conducted a survey of alcohol and drug habits among patients hospitalized in our department during a six month period. Alcohol and drug abuse was found among 185 (11%) of the patients, with a male-to-female ratio of 2.3. The median age was 52 years for women and 53 for men. Generally, the levels of education and employment were low among the alcohol and drug abusing patients. In contrast to our experience, most general practitioners in our catchment area considered alcohol and drug abuse as a minor problem in their patients. During the last 25 years only seven of 54 medical clinics in Norway have performed a systematic registration of alcohol and drug habits among their patients. Patients with alcohol and drug abuse constituted a marked proportion of hospitalized patients in our clinic, and they consumed a substantial portion of our resources.