The course of alcoholism among men in the Lundby Longitudinal Study, Sweden.
OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this study is to describe the course of alcoholism among men in the Lundby community cohort.


METHODS
A subset (N = 41) of initially nonalcoholic male subjects were diagnosed by a psychiatrist as first incidence alcoholics (alcohol abuse and/or dependence) during the period 1957-72, all of whom have been followed through four waves of investigation between 1947 and 1993.


RESULTS
The proportion of remission of the entire 41 former alcoholic subjects was 39%. Of the 23 survivors, 52% were remitted. The recovery started at age 30-39 and culminated at age 40-49.


CONCLUSIONS
In this 40-year follow-up of former alcoholics, stable remissions were shown to occur at a rate of approximately 40% (50% in survivors). Critical variables were severity and the subjects' age at the time of recovery. The results are tentative because of the small number of individuals.
Ojesjö
L
L
Magnus Huss Clinic, Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden.
Hagnell
O
O
Otterbeck
L
L
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000401:mortality / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies; D013548:Sweden / Q000453:epidemiology