2 days Ago By Lotti OBrien
Experts can identify a problem with alcohol using a tool which has been reliable for more than ten years. A report by the University of Leicester for 2014 shows two questions which doctors still consider highly effective in diagnosing addictions. According to the study, the method has an accuracy rate of 87%.
The two questions are: How often do you drink six or more alcoholic beverages in one sitting? Have you ever consumed alcohol first thing in the morning to steady your nerves? Jordi Sánchez, a hepatologist at Parc Taulí Hospital in Sabadell, emphasises the importance of the tool. He tells El Pais: “They detect the problems of people who binge-drink and consume several drinks in a short period of time, a trend that is increasingly on the rise among the young population.” Mr Sánchez explains that consuming five strong alcoholic drinks within a few hours for men or four for women raises alarm bells among professionals.
The second question targets an individual's dependency on alcohol to relax. “We often ask patients admitted to hospital if they wake up in the mornings with tremors and the urge to drink to calm down or with withdrawal symptoms,” says Mr Sánchez who regularly treats patients with alcoholic cirrhosis or hepatitis. The 2014 study examined 17 people whose doctors had asked the two key questions.
When questioned on their frequency of consuming six or more alcoholic drinks in one sitting, the identification of alcoholism possessed 54% accuracy. However, when the second question about drinking first thing in the morning was asked, the accuracy of the diagnosis increased to 87%. Gloria Sánchez Antolín, head of the Hepatology Unit at Río Ortega Hospital in Valladolid, supports the use of the two questions.
“Because they’re open, they ensure that the patient does not feel judged and can be referred from primary care to hepatologists and mental health experts,” she explains. Ms Antolín notes that higher consumption leads to higher tolerance. “Years ago, it was thought that a glass of wine a day was beneficial for vascular health, but we now know that no amount of alcohol can be recommended,” she says.
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