| Summary: | 碩士 === 國立陽明大學 === 公共衛生研究所 === 101 === Objectives: Inappropriate and excessive alcohol drinking may not only increase accidents and health problems but also result in waste of medical resources. This study aimed to explore the connection between different problematic alcohol consumption pattern and healthcare utilization in Taiwan.
Methods: The study design is a cross-sectional study. The data source is from the 2009 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS). The study population (n=16,881) involves young (age of 18-39 years) and middle-aged (age of 40-64 years) adults. Problematic alcohol drinking was assessed by binge drinking and probable alcoholic. Healthcare utilization covers outpatient, emergency and inpatient medical services. Complex survey analyses in poisson and logit distribution were used to assess the association estimates with stratification by age group.
Results: Recent prevalence of binge drinking was 6.25% for young adults and 5.68% for middle-aged adults; the corresponding estimates for past-year alcoholic were 2.4% and 2.27%. With adjustment for sociodemographic characteristics and health behaviors, probable alcoholics are more likely to use emergency room service (young adults: adjusted Odds Ratio [aOR]=1.76, 95% CI: 0.95-3.24; middle-aged adults: aOR=2.06, 95% CI: 1.21-3.52) and inpatient services (young adults: aOR=1.26, 95% CI: 0.61-2.60; middle-aged adults: OR=1.68, 95% CI: 0.95-2.96) as compared with those who ever drank.
Conclusions: The findings indicated differential relationship between problematic drinking and healthcare utilization, and such links may slightly differ by age group. To reduce possible problematic drinking related medical burden, screening and behavioral counseling interventions in primary care and workplace should be considered.
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