The Prevalence Of Drinking And The Comorbid Rate Of Alcohol Use Disorder In 513 Inpatients With Schizophrenia Before Their Admission

Background: Alcohol use disorder (AUD) is one of the most common comorbidity of schizophrenia (SCZ). AUD is 3 times more prevalent in patients with SCZ compared to the general population. AUD in patients with SCZ is associated with poor treatment response,treatment non-compliance, relapse and hospitalization , as well as violence and suicide.Objective: To investigate the prevalence of drinking and the comorbid of alcohol use disorder among the inpatients with schizophrenia before their admission. To describe the socio-demographic characteristics of AUD in patients with SCZ and reveal high-risk factors in patients with SCZ.Method: By cluster sampling, semi-structured interviews, including the self-designed questionnaire and the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT), were used to assess alcohol use in 542 schizophrenic inpatients. Inpatients screened positive (AUDIT ≥7) were diagnosed by trained psychiatrists with the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5) criteria. We imported all data into SPSS 13.0 and built a database, and used the SPSS 13.0 for statistical processing.Results: The total lifetime prevalence in the sample was 55.9%. The lifetime prevalence in male was 65.1%, that in female was 42.2%. The total one-year drinking-rate was 35.1%. The one-year drinking-rate in male was 40.4%, that in female was 27.2%. The point prevalence rates of patients screened positive (AUDIT≥7) were 40.3%, 12.5% and 31.7%for male, female and the whole sample respectively in the one-year drinking patients. Per alcohol consumption for pure alcohol among all drinkers was 42.36 gramme (male versus female: 4.0). Beer and weaker distilled spirit were the two most common beverages of alcohol use in patients with SCZ in the past year. The point prevalence rates of alcohol use disorder were 9.1%, 2.0% and 6.2% for male, female and the whole sample respectively. The point comorbid rate in male was higher than that in female (X2=10.86, P=0.001).Conclusion: Drinking was a common social behavior in Chinese patients with SCZ. Beer and spirit were the main types of alcohol beverages consumed in patients with SCZ. But the prevalence of drinking among patients with schizophrenia were lower than the general population, and the prevalence of alcohol use disorder were lower than developed countries.