[Alcohol-related admissions to a psychiatric departments]

The purpose of this investigation was to find out the number of hospitalizations of alcoholics in a department of psychiatry throughout one year. Further, some characteristics of the patients were noted. The information was gathered from case sheets of patients who had been hospitalized in the period 01.10.96-30.09.97, and who were given a F10.x diagnosis from the ICD-10 system. The investigation showed that about one fifth of the patients hospitalized in the department were alcoholics. Fore more than half of these patients, the reason for hospitalization was for treatment that according to guidelines should have been given in an outpatient setting. The study confirms that there is a need for facilities for inpatient treatment for alcoholics, and that offering outpatient detoxification is not sufficient.