Abstract

MARELLI, A et al. Consumo de alcohol en los pacientes que acudieron por consulta externa del Hospital Vargas de Caracas durante el período Marzo - Mayo 2008. Gen [online]. 2009, vol.63, n.1, pp.53-59. ISSN 0016-3503.

Alcohol intake in our country is a public health problem related with the development of many events that affect the bio - psychosocial area of the patients. Objective: Characterize the patterns of alcohol intake in people from 14 years old on; that attended the gastroenterology, Internal Medicine, Endocrinology and Surgery Divisions at the Hospital Vargas in Caracas. Patients and Methods: the data was collected during March-May 2008, in the morning and afternoon, from Monday through Friday. Interviews were done in an intentional, heterogeneous sample of 450 patients. An opened questions survey was applied, in which the identification data (name, last name, sex, age, telephone), alcohol intake were included (age of beginning, number of drinks, frequency), as well as the Cage Test questions. In order to measure alcohol intake, we used a classification that allowed knowing the risk of Alcoholism. Results: A total of 450 surveys were made, in 149 male patients and 301 females. Of the total of the sample, 186 patients consume alcohol and 264 do not, 41.55% and 58.45% respectively. 16 patients, presented with high risk of alcohol intake and 50 patients with severe intake, 8.60% and 26.88% respectively. It is important to stress out that females presented a high risk of intake (10.34%), whereas the detrimental intake in males was 43.87%. Conclusions: Alcohol intake in patients who attended "Hospital Vargas de Caracas" outpatient clinic is high, with a 41.55% of the patients, and an alcohol intake risk of 35.48 %.