Characterizing safer drinking strategies among hospitalized adults with severe alcohol use disorder; a cross-sectional secondary analysis.

Abstract

Background: Safer drinking strategies (SDS) reduce alcohol-related harms in outpatient settings. Little is known about SDS among hospitalized patients.

Objective: Evaluate SDS among hospitalized patients with alcohol use disorder (AUD) and assess for association with past-year acute-care utilization.

Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional, secondary analysis of hospitalized adults with AUD at a safety-net hospital in Colorado from January-December 2021. Participants completed a questionnaire on SDS and were categorized as low (≤2 reported) or high SDS (≥3 reported). Past-year emergency department visits and hospital admissions were identified using the electronic health record. A Mann-Whitney test compared encounters between low and high SDS groups.

Results: Among 43 hospitalized adults with AUD, 38 (88.4%) reported ≥1 SDS and 21 (48.8%) reported ≥3 SDS. The low SDS group had fewer past-year admissions than the high SDS group (U = 145.0, p = 0.015).

Conclusion: SDS are frequently identified by patients and may be an acceptable form of inpatient AUD management.