title: [Clinical problems of alcoholics with a history of methamphetamine abuse].
abstract: The authors studied the clinical problems of alcoholics with a history of methamphetamine abuse as compared with alcoholics with no history. The samples were in- and out-patients of Kanagawa Prefectural Center of Psychiatry, Serigaya Hospital, from January to December 1992. This study covered 26 alcoholics who had abused methamphetamine from 1 to 40 years before, with an average age at admission was 43.5 years. This compared with a 50.4 year average for 89 alcoholics who had no history of methamphetamine abuse. Hepatitis C antibodies (HCVAb) were significantly more commonly observed in ex-methamphetamine abusers than in non-abusers (73.1% vs. 18.0%). Hepatitis B antigens (HBsAg) were no more common among abusers than non-abusers (0% vs. 2.2%). Blood transfusion history tended to be greater in ex-methamphetamine abusers than non-abusers (38.5% vs. 29.2%) but the difference did not reach conventional levels of statistical significance. Ex-abusers often wore tattoos (23.1%) whereas none of the non-abusers did, a significant difference. Significantly more ex-methamphetamine abusers were diagnosed as suffering from alcoholic hallucinosis than non-abusers (42.3% vs. 7.9%). As more ex-methamphetamine abusers than non-abusers were living alone (61.5% vs. 31.5%), were on welfare (61.5% vs. 23.8%), and living in skid-row areas (15.4% vs. 5.6%), the authors concluded that their living conditions were unstable.
authors.affiliation: Kanagawa Prefectural Center of Psychiatry, Serigaya Hospital, Kanagawa, Japan.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Okudaira
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yabana
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Takahashi
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Iizuka
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kaneko
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Saito
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000437:Alcoholism; D001803:Blood Transfusion; D005260:Female; D016174:Hepacivirus / Q000276:immunology; D006508:Hepatitis Antibodies / Q000097:blood; D006514:Hepatitis B Surface Antigens / Q000097:blood; D006801:Humans; D008019:Life Style; D008297:Male; D008694:Methamphetamine; D008875:Middle Aged; D012946:Social Welfare; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders; D013653:Tattooing
chemical_list: D006508:Hepatitis Antibodies; D006514:Hepatitis B Surface Antigens; D008694:Methamphetamine