Hazardous Alcohol Consumption Among Mexican Inpatients

To determine the prevalence of “hazardous drinkers,” 1,064 Mexican inpatients (ages 18–59 years) from nine general hospitals answered an Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) questionnaire, previously validated by the World Health Organization. When subjects scored positive, a clinical screening procedure and a serum gamma-glutamyl-trans-peptidase (GGT) test were carried out. An AUDIT score ≥ 8 (hazardous drinking) was found in 23.4% of the sample (43.2% in men vs. 3.6% in women). Patients' answers were positively correlated in 83.3% with those of their next of kin. The clinical screening procedure and serum GGT levels correlated with AUDIT scores ≥ 8 in 55%. Data support the recommendation of routine screening for alcohol consumption in a general hospital population and the usefulness of the AUDIT application as a screening instrument for early phases of hazardous use of alcohol.