A comparison of alcoholic and nonalcoholic drug abusers (original) (raw)

1988, Journal of Studies on Alcohol

A group of 329 hospitalized drug abusers were evaluated for a current or past diagnosis of alcoholism. The alcoholic drug-dependent patients (n-169, 51.4ø70) were then compared with the nonalcoholic patients (a = 160, 48.607o) with regard to sociodemographic, clinical and family history characteristics. The alcoholics were significantly more likely to receive a DSM-III diagnosis of major depression, with melancholia; other Axis I diagnoses were equally distributed between the two groups. Antisocial personality disorder was also significantly more prevalent among the alcoholic patients. The alcoholics had somewhat longer drug histories and more vivid memories of their first drinking experiences; polydrug abuse, however, was no more common in this group. Finally, the first-degree relatives of the alcoholics had significantly more alcoholism than the first-degree relatives of the nonalcoholic patients. Implications regarding the relationship of alcoholism and other forms of substance abuse are discussed. (J. Stud Alcohol 49: 510-515, 1988) HE IMPORTANCE of alcoholism in patients dependent on other drugs has been widely documented. Alcohol abuse has been shown to increase morbidity and mortality in drug abusers by contributing to liver dysfunction (Maddux and Elliott, 1975; Stimmel et al., 1972), overdose deaths (Baden, 1970) and continued drug use (Mezritz et al., 1975; Perkins and Bloch, 1970). Although there is general agreement among clinicians regarding the importance of alcoholism in drug abusers, this area has also been the subject of considerable debate. Much of the controversy has focused on the hypothesis that alcohol abuse can occur in part as a result of drug abuse treatment. This question has been studied primarily in patients on methadone maintenance, with contradictory results; some reports (Gearing, 1970; Liebson et al., 1973; Schut et al., 1973) have supported the hypothesis, whereas others have found either no change or an overall reduction in drinking after patients enter drug abuse treatment (Chambers, 1981; Green and Jaffe, 1977). Another area of controversy has been the prognostic significance of alcoholism in drug dependent patients, with some authors claiming that