Alcoholism and co-occurring disorders

International Conference and Exhibition on Dual Diagnosis July 18-19, 2016 Chicago, USA
Esmeralda Thoma and Sonila Bitri
University of Medicine of Tirana, Albania
Posters & Accepted Abstracts: J Addict Res Ther
DOI: 10.4172/2155-6105.C1.025

Abstract

Introduction: Alcoholism is defined by the American Medical Association (AMA) as a primary, chronic disease with genetic, psychosocial and environmental factors influencing its development and manifestations. Aim: The aim of this study is to find out the most frequent disease or disorder that is associated to alcoholism. Materials & Method: This is a retrospective study that was conducted at the Clinical of Toxicology and Addictology at Mother Teresa University Hospital during January 2012-june 2013. 330 patients were included in the study. The diagnosis of alcoholism was based on lab exams and anamnesis. Results: In this study, 330 patients were included and 98% of which were male. 174 of these patients had at least one other diagnosis except alcoholism, from which 107 had dual diagnosis. Patient without any other diagnosis except alcoholism, used to drink 344.8 (±103.1) ml/day, while patient with dual diagnosis 404.1 (±123.5) ml which is statistically significant difference (t=4.7 p <0:01). i.e. individuals consuming >350 ml of alcohol have 1.7 times the risk of having high alcohol-related disease compared to individuals consuming <350 ml of alcohol with statistically significant difference between them : Relative risk RR=1.7 95%CI (1.1–2.8) p=0.02. From all the patients with dual diagnosis (n=66), 45.5% had anxiety disorder and 12.5% had personality disorder. Conclusions: Does the amount of alcohol drinking affects the presence of dual diagnosis or the presence of psychiatric disorders makes the patient to drink more? This remains still unclear!

Biography

Esmeralda Thoma has completed her studies in University of Medicine of Tirana, Albania 2004 and specialization in Clinical Toxicology and Addiction, Albania. She works as a Clinical Toxicologist in American Hospital, Tirana, Albania. Her research field of interest is drug addiction (opiod , alcohol, etc) and she had training in this field.

Email: esmeraldahoxha@yahoo.com