Hidden alcoholism in inpatients of Matanzas Faustino Pérez Hospital . January-march 2005

Abstract

The alcoholism is one of the addictions that more complications brings about and it is involved in the beginning or worsening of affections requiring hospitalization; but it can be overlooked if we do not deeply explore its presence, because the patient does not refer it spontaneously. That is the reason for which we carried out a descriptive epidemiologic study of 142 inpatients of the Internal Medicine Ward of Matanzas Faustino Perez Hospital during the first quarter of 2005. They did not have a previous diagnosis of alcoholism and the objectives of the study were identifying the hidden presence of this pathology, highlighting the presence of complications and pointing out the system in which they appear more frequently. 35 of the total of patients presented hidden alcoholic morbidity (24, 8 %), with a predominance of somatic alterations in the 45-54 age group; the most affected system was the digestive system (19 patients). 100 % of the patients diagnosed with hidden alcoholism knew about the noxious effects of the alcohol, but only 25, 7 % of them had a critical position against the disease, while the rest denied it.