title: Serbian and Austrian alcohol-dependent patients: a comparison of two samples regarding therapeutically relevant clinical features.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To support the Serbian Expert Board in setting up reimbursement for modern pharmacotherapeutic support, we compared a Serbian sample of alcohol-dependent patients with an Austrian sample, in order to detect differences that might inhibit the introduction of anti-craving medications in Serbia.
  
  
  METHODS
  One hundred and twenty-seven (116 males) alcohol-dependent patients in Serbia and 136 in Austria (78 males) were enrolled consecutively from January 2011 to March 2012 and were assessed using the Lesch alcoholism typology instrument (LAT).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Age of onset was slightly higher in the Austrian sample (28.5 vs. 30.0; P = 0.10). The Serbian sample showed a higher rate of anxiety disorders than the Austrian sample (89.8 vs. 26.5%, P ≤ 0.0001). Suicidal tendencies, independent of alcohol intake or withdrawal syndrome, were higher in the Austrian sample (1.6 vs. 13.2% P ≤ 0.0001). There was no difference between the two samples in Lesch-Type IV (26 vs 28); there was a slight excess in the Serbian sample of Type I (15 vs. 10). In Austria, significantly more Type II patients (32 vs. 52) had been included, while the Serbian sample comprised significantly more Type III patients.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Austrian and Serbian patients are quite similar, without any showing any factor that would detract from the potential value of modern anti-craving medications in Serbia. The differences in anxiety disorders might be due to the 1990s war and should be investigated further.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, The Faculty of Medical Sciences, University of Kragujevac, Svetozara Markovica 69, Kragujevac 34000, Serbia. jakovljevicm@kg.ac.rs
authors.forename: Mihajlo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Jakovljevic
authors.forename: Anita
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Riegler
authors.forename: Mirjana
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Jovanovic
authors.forename: Natasa
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Djordjevic
authors.forename: Karin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Patek
authors.forename: Otto
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Lesch
authors.forename: Henriette
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Walter
mesh_terms: D017668:Age of Onset; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology; D001317:Austria / Q000453:epidemiology; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D055771:Serbia / Q000453:epidemiology; D059020:Suicidal Ideation