Longitudinal trends in hospital admissions with co-occurring alcohol/drug diagnoses, 1994-2002.
In this observational study, longitudinal trends (1994-2002) in hospital admissions with co-occurring alcohol/drug abuse and addiction (ADAA; N=43,073) were examined to determine prevalence and hospital costs by payer group and type of drug used. Four primary drug types were reported: 49% used a combination of two or more drugs, 25% used alcohol only, 11.8% used opioids only, and 6.5% used cocaine only. Costs of admissions increased significantly for those using two or more drugs (119%, from US$12.7 to US$27.8 million), alcohol (120%, from US$9 to US$19.8 million), and opioids (482%, from US$1.7 to US$9.9 million). Medicaid/Medicare represented 70% of the overall number of admissions and also paid 70% of hospital costs. Among Medicaid/Medicare and uninsured admissions, illicit drug use was more common, whereas among private payer admissions, alcohol abuse was more common. Hospital admissions with co-occurring ADAA must be considered when estimating the scope of ADAA and its financial burden.
Santora
Patricia B
PB
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21287, USA. psantora@jhmi.edu
Hutton
Heidi E
HE
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000628:therapy; D005260:Female; D017721:Hospital Costs; D006760:Hospitalization / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008484:Medicaid; D006278:Medicare; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000628:therapy; D013997:Time Factors; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology