Lluisa Ortega

Simultaneous versus Delayed Treatment of Tobacco Dependence in Alcohol-Dependent Outpatients

Introduction: There is a high prevalence of smoking among heavy drinkers, which is often forgotten even though it has important health consequences. Aim: To evaluate the effects that providing an intensive tobacco cessation treatment simultaneously with alcohol dependence treatment versus delayed treatment (first alcohol and 6 months later tobacco) has on alcohol and tobacco consumption. Methods: Ninety-two alcohol-dependent smokers were randomized into either a simultaneous group, in which treatment was given concurrently for quitting both alcohol and tobacco, or a delayed group, in which help to quit smoking was given after 6 months. Results: No differences were found in alcohol abstinence rates in time-to-first relapse or in cumulative abstinence at 6 months. Smoking cessation rates were low overall, but better at 3 months in the simultaneous group, although differences later disappeared. Discussion: Participation in a smoking cessation program does not impair alcohol outcomes, at least during the first 6 months.

Adult ADHD screening in alcohol-dependent patients using the Wender-Utah Rating Scale and the adult ADHD Self-Report Scale.

Objective: The aim was to analyze the psychometric properties of two screening instruments, Wender-Utah Rating Scale (WURS) that evaluates childhood ADHD and Adult ADHD Self-Report Scales (ASRS) that assesses symptoms in adulthood, in alcohol-dependent patients. Method: A total of 355 outpatients were included. Conners’ adult ADHD diagnostic interview results were used as a gold standard in childhood and adulthood ADHD. Results: The WURS with a 41 cutoff had a sensitivity of 79.6% and a specificity of 60.3%. The ASRS with a 14 cutoff had a sensitivity of 86.7% and specificity of 66.1%. Analyzing both rating scales in combination, it was observed that patients with positive ASRS and WURS presented a sensitivity of 92.3%. Patients with positive ASRS, but negative WURS, presented a specificity of 73.6%. Conclusion: WURS and ASRS are useful tools in the diagnosis of adult ADHD in alcohol-dependent patients; with the use of both instruments, the psychometric properties are substantially improved.

Psychiatric Comorbidity in Treatment-Seeking Alcohol Dependence Patients With and Without ADHD.

Objective: To estimate the prevalence of ADHD in adult patients treated for alcohol dependence and to analyze the characteristics of consumption and psychiatric comorbidity, in function of a possible ADHD in adulthood. Method: We administered the Adult ADHD Self-Report Scale (ASRS) to 726 alcohol-dependent patients. Clinical diagnosis, following Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed., text rev.; DSM-IV-TR) criteria was made in the first four weeks of treatment. A subsample of 297 patients was evaluated using Conners’ Adult ADHD Diagnostic Interview for DSM-IV (CAADID-II) to test the psychometric properties of ASRS. Results: After analyzing the properties of the ASRS (sensitivity: 83.3%; specificity: 66.1%), the prevalence of ADHD, in the whole sample, was estimated to be 16.2%. Being younger, lifetime history of cocaine dependence and the presence of an affective, anxiety or personality disorder were associated with a possible ADHD. Conclusion: The estimated prevalence of ADHD in patients being treated for alcohol dependence is high, and the presence of a possible ADHD in adulthood is associated with an increase in psychiatric comorbidity.

Alcoholismo en el hospital general: detección y tratamiento

Fundamento y objetivo Estudiar la deteccion y el tratamiento de los pacientes alcoholicos ingresados en hospitales generales. Pacientes y metodo Se han efectuado analisis de las 212 interconsultas por consumo de alcohol recibidas en una unidad de alcohologia durante 1998 y una comparacion con la prevalencia estimada. Resultados El 80% de las interconsultas se concentran en 4 servicios y no llegan al 3% de sus ingresos. El 72% presenta trastornos psicosociales, el 46% ingresos y el 21%, interconsultas previas. No se ofrece tratamiento tras el alta al 20% de los enfermos debido al deterioro psicosocial y organico, mientras que un 17% lo rechaza. Conclusiones En los hospitales se detectan alcoholicos en fases avanzadas de su dependencia alcoholica, sujetos a tratamientos ambulatorios poco efectivos. Los alcoholicos menos graves, que podrian obtener tratamientos eficaces, son infradetectados.

Alcohol abstinence in patients surviving an episode of alcoholic hepatitis: Prediction and impact on long-term survival

Alcoholic hepatitis (AH) is the most severe form of alcoholic liver disease. Most studies have focused on short‐term prognosis, whereas factors associated with long‐term survival are largely unknown. The aims of our study were to (1) determine the impact of complete abstinence from alcohol on long‐term survival and (2) identify prognostic factors at admission capable of predicting abstinence during long‐term follow‐up in patients with AH. One hundred forty‐two patients with biopsy‐proven AH that survived the first episode were included. Demographic, psychiatric, and biochemical variables at admission and drinking status during follow‐up were obtained. Cox regression, logistic regression, and classification and regression trees (CART) analyses were used for statistical analysis. Overall mortality was 38% with a median follow‐up of 55 months. During follow‐up, complete abstinence was reported in 39% and was associated with better long‐term survival (hazard ratio, 0.53; P = 0.03). After adjustment for baseline prognostic scoring systems (Model for End‐Stage Liver Disease and age, bilirubin, international normalized ratio, creatinine scores), complete abstinence was independently associated with survival (P < 0.05). Age and lack of past alcoholism treatments were independently associated with complete abstinence (P < 0.001 and P = 0.02, respectively) during follow‐up. CART analysis generated a simple and practical algorithm based on the combination of past alcoholism treatments and age. Using CART analysis, we stratified 2 subgroups of patients with high (65%) and low (26%‐29%) rates of complete abstinence after an episode of AH. Conclusion: Complete abstinence after an episode of AH positively impacts long‐term survival. The combination of 2 variables easily obtained at admission might be useful to predict long‐term abstinence after an episode of AH. Strategies aimed at promoting alcohol abstinence in these patients are necessary. (Hepatology 2017;66:1842–1853)

Urine Ethyl Glucuronide Unraveling the Reality of Abstinence Monitoring in a Routine Outpatient Setting: A Cross-Sectional Comparison with Ethanol, Self Report and Clinical Judgment

Aims: To test the screening performance of urinary ethyl glucuronide (EtG) under routine clinical conditions in a sample of alcohol-dependent outpatients, comparing it against urinary ethanol, self reports and clinical judgment. Methods: A cross-sectional study under routine conditions was conducted in February 2015, where 613 consecutive urinary samples, provided by 188 outpatients with alcohol use disorders, were analyzed for ethanol and EtG (cut-off level = 500 ng/ml). Clinical variables such as the presence of aversive medication, comorbidities and clinician judgment were also collected. The discrepancy between the number of alcohol and EtG positives was recorded. A logistic regression analysis including clinical variables was conducted to assess for predictors of EtG positivity. Results: Urinary alcohol yielded 9 positives (1.5% of all urine samples) belonging to 8 patients. EtG yielded 136 positives (22% of all urine samples) belonging to 74 patients. Of these, 93.4% (127 of 136) were negative for alcohol. All urinary alcohol positives resulted in EtG positives. The clinician judged 48 samples from 26 patients as belonging to not abstinent patients and 550 samples from 178 patients as belonging to abstinent patients. She was unsure in 15 samples from 15 patients. When comparing it against EtG as the gold standard, the area under the curve was 0.592. Self reports were extremely unreliable in this study, with only 5 patients reporting drinking in a total of 6 urine samples. In the logistic regression model, only aversive medications (OR 2.1, 95% CI 1.3-3.3) and clinician judgment (OR 2, 95% CI 1.4-2.9) resulted in significant effects. Conclusions: EtG performed largely better than ethanol for urine screening in alcohol outpatients, detecting an extra 20.4% (125 out of 613) of positives. It means that for each alcohol-positive sample, there were 15 EtG-positive samples. Although better than ethanol, clinician judgment was also not performed efficiently. If routinely implemented in the screening of alcohol outpatients, EtG might bring relevant changes that merit further research.

Enfermedades relacionadas con el consumo de alcohol: seguimiento a los dos años de la hospitalización

Fundamento y objetivo Analizar la evolucion y el cumplimiento del tratamiento medico y alcohologico postalta de los pacientes con alcoholismo identificados en un hospital general. Pacientes y metodo Estudio de cohorte prospectivo a 2 anos de las 100 interconsultas solicitadas durante el primer semestre de 1998 por problemas medicos relacionados con el consumo de alcohol. Resultados Habian fallecido 9 pacientes y se habia derivado a 14 a otros recursos asistenciales. El cumplimiento del tratamiento medico 2 anos despues del ingreso era del 46% y el del alcohologico, del 10%. El rechazo desde el principio fue del 15 y el 31% respectivamente. Todos los pacientes que han seguido el tratamiento alcohologico tambien cumplen con el medico. La probabilidad de supervivencia en el tratamiento alcohologico a los 2 anos es del 19%, y es mayor entre los pacientes que han tenido interconsultas previas o trastornos psicosociales. La probabilidad de mantenerse vivo es del 86,9%. Conclusiones Se identifica a pocos pacientes con alcoholismo y de elevada gravedad que pueden beneficiarse de las psicoterapias alcohologicas disponibles, lo que da lugar a una elevada y rapida mortalidad. El cumplimiento de tratamientos postalta es bajo, estando relacionado el tratamiento medico con el alcohologico. Los pacientes que rechazan el tratamiento reingresan frecuentemente y vuelven a intentarse intervenciones terapeuticas, que son del tipo de reduccion de danos.

Patients’ Knowledge and Attitudes Towards Regular Alcohol Urine Screening: A Survey Study

Background: Despite its wide implementation, there is a paucity of data supporting the effectiveness of regular alcohol urine screening (RAUS) in maintaining abstinence. This study aims at investigating if RAUS serves other purposes, what attitudes patients display towards it, and patients’ technical knowledge about basic screening notions. Method: We conducted a cross-sectional survey among adults with alcohol dependence, attending outpatient alcohol-dependence treatment. It aimed at investigating patients’ attitudes and beliefs towards RAUS, and technical notions of alcohol urine screening. For attitude assessment, we adapted the Drug Attitude Inventory (DAI-10) to the field of alcohol urine screening. Internal consistency, test-retest reliability, and concurrent validity were evaluated for the adapted questionnaire. Results: In all, 128 patients completed the questionnaire. Patients rated RAUS as high. The DAI-10 mean score was 7.2 (SD = 3.6). Internal consistency analysis revealed a Cronbach alpha of 0.718. Test-retest reliability evaluation yielded an intraclass correlation coefficient of 0.932. The score of a single Likert-type question about overall perceived value was 8.5 (SD = 2). Their correlation with mean DAI-10 score was of r = 0.254, with P = 0.009. Apart from relapse prevention, patients frequently reported other functions such as showing professionals and family members that they do not drink, or having a closer contact with professionals. A majority of patients believed alcohol use goes undetected after 48 hours from last ingestion. Conclusion: Regular alcohol screening is highly valued by alcohol outpatients. It seems that apart from relapse prevention, other functions related to therapeutic alliance building, social desirability, and impression management also play a key role.

Detección y prevalencia del trastorno por uso de alcohol en los centros de atención primaria de Cataluña

AIM To describe the detection by general practitioners (GP) of alcohol use disorders (AUD) and alcohol dependence, and their prevalence in primary health settings. DESIGN Cross-sectional study. SETTINGS Twenty Catalan primary health care centres (Spain). PARTICIPANTS AND MEASUREMENTS Twenty three randomly selected GP were surveyed about alcohol and other diseases of their patients. A total of 1,372 patient interviews were collected. Patients and GPs were asked about AUD and other mental and health conditions. The Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI) as the gold standard was used, as well as other structured interviews (K10 screening and World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule 2.0). RESULTS The CIDI diagnosed 9.6% of the total sample with an AUD, and 4.8% diagnosed by GPs. CIDI could detect more AUD in young adults, while GPs diagnosed more AUD and alcohol dependence in elderly people, who also had more health conditions. GPs recognised AUD in 28.8% of patients diagnosed with CIDI, but 42.4% of patients diagnosed by GPs were not detected with CIDI. Taking both into consideration, the gold standard and the GP clinical impression, 11.7% of patients had an AUD and 8.6% an AD. CONCLUSIONS GP recognise AUD better in the elderly with worst health conditions than CIDI. AUD and alcohol dependence prevalence is high in primary health care centres.Resumen Objetivo Describir el grado de reconocimiento del trastorno por uso de alcohol (TUA) y dependencia de alcohol por los médicos de atención primaria (MAP) y determinar su prevalencia. Diseño Estudio transversal. Emplazamiento Veinte centros de atención primaria de Cataluña. Participantes y mediciones Se encuestó a 23 MAP seleccionados al azar acerca del consumo de alcohol y otras enfermedades de sus pacientes. Se entrevistó y evaluó a 1.372 pacientes con la Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI) para determinar el diagnóstico de TUA en el último año, y otros cuestionarios (el K10, de cribado, y el World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule 2.0) para evaluar la discapacidad y la salud mental. Resultados La CIDI diagnosticó TUA en un 9,6% del total de la muestra. Los MAP detectaron un 4,8% de TUA. La CIDI detectó mayor proporción de casos entre las edades más jóvenes, y el MAP detectó mayor porcentaje de TUA y dependencia de alcohol en personas de mayor edad y con enfermedades concomitantes. Los MAP identificaron el 28,8% de los casos diagnosticados de TUA por la CIDI. El 42,4% de los pacientes diagnosticados por el MAP no fueron identificados por la CIDI. Al utilizar como criterio diagnóstico indistintamente la CIDI o la impresión clínica del MAP, la prevalencia de TUA en atención primaria se situó en el 11,7%, y la de dependencia de alcohol, en el 8,6%. Conclusiones Los MAP reconocen poco el TUA en gente joven, mientras que detectan más la enfermedad en pacientes de mayor edad y con comorbilidades asociadas. La prevalencia de TUA es elevada en atención primaria.

El Alcohol en Atención Primaria. Características diferenciales entre los pacientes dependientes del alcohol que han solicitado o no tratamiento

primary health care services for other reasons. The aim of the present study is to describe the differential characteristics of AD patients in primary care, distinguishing between those who receive treatment and those who do not, and their reasons for not seeking it. In a cross-sectional study patients were evaluated by their general practitioner (GP) and interviewed by a member of the research team. Sociodemographic, diagnostic and clinical data were collected. From 1,372 patients interviewed in Catalonia, 118 (8.6%) were diagnosed as AD. These patients showed a lower socioeconomic status (48.3% vs 33.3%, odds ratio 2.02), higher unemployment rates (32.2% vs 19.2 %, odds ratio 2.11), and greater psychological distress and disability. Patients with AD receiving treatment (16.9%), were older (44 vs 36 years of age), reported higher unemployment rates (66% vs 25.5%, odds ratio 6.32) and higher daily alcohol consumption (61.5 vs 23.7 grams), suggesting a more advanced disease. Patients with AD in general showed a higher degree of comorbidity compared to other patients, with patients in treatment showing the most elevated level. The main reasons given for not seeking treatment were shame, fear of giving up drinking and barriers to treatment. Taken together, the data suggest the need to implement earlier strategies for the detection and treatment of AD.