Risky use and misuse of alcohol and cigarettes in psychiatric inpatients: a screening questionnaire study.
Mental disorders are associated with an increased prevalence of substance use disorders (SUDs). Despite this comorbidity being firmly established, alcohol and nicotine risky use and misuse are not routinely and systematically assessed in clinical practice.



The aim of this study is to examine the prevalence of risky use of alcohol, alcohol use disorder (AUD), smoking, and nicotine use disorder in people with psychiatric diagnoses and their association with age, gender, and occupational functioning.



Participants were 210 patients from an inpatient psychiatric ward. Three self-reporting questionnaires were used: the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT), the Lübeck Alcoholism Screening Test (LAST), and the Fagerström Test for Nicotine Dependence (FTND).



Risky alcohol use or AUD was found in more than one third of patients and was more common in males than in females (p<0.01) and in young people as compared to older adults (p=0.04). Current nicotine consumption concerned over a half participants and was significantly associated with risky alcohol use and AUD (p<0.01). Patients with current SUD had the highest prevalence of both smoking (80%) and alcohol misuse (80%). Low occupational functioning was associated with both alcohol use (p=0.02) and concurrent alcohol and SUDs (p=0.03).



Both alcohol and nicotine risky use and misuse are highly prevalent in people with psychiatric disorders and their concurrent abuse is common. The simultaneous use of different screening questionnaires allows the identification not only of people with frank use disorders, but also those with harmful use, facilitating early detection of people at risk.
Department of Psychiatry, Hospital of Bolzano, via Bohler 5, 39100 Bolzano, Italy. Electronic address: jacopo.bizzarri@sabes.it.
Jacopo V
JV
Bizzarri
Department of Psychiatry, Hospital of Bolzano, via Bohler 5, 39100 Bolzano, Italy.
Valentina
V
Casetti
Drug and Alcohol Treatment Centre, via Del Ronco 3, 39100 Bolzano, Italy.
Patrizia
P
Panzani
Drug and Alcohol Treatment Centre, via Del Ronco 3, 39100 Bolzano, Italy.
Juliane
J
Unterhauser
Department of Psychiatry, Hospital of Bolzano, via Bohler 5, 39100 Bolzano, Italy.
Stefania
S
Mulas
Epidemiologic Observatory, via Canonico Gamper 1, 39100 Bolzano, Italy.
Antonio
A
Fanolla
Department of Psychiatry, Hospital of Bolzano, via Bohler 5, 39100 Bolzano, Italy.
Claudia
C
Zitelli
Department of Psychiatry, Hospital of Bolzano, via Bohler 5, 39100 Bolzano, Italy.
Alessandro
A
Briani
Department of Psychiatry, Hospital of Bolzano, via Bohler 5, 39100 Bolzano, Italy.
Giancarlo
G
Giupponi
Vincent P. Dole Dual Diagnosis Unit, Department of Neurosciences, Santa Chiara University Hospital, via Roma 67, 56126 Pisa, Italy.
Icro
I
Maremmani
Department of Psychiatry, Hospital of Bolzano, via Bohler 5, 39100 Bolzano, Italy.
Andreas
A
Conca
D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000453:epidemiology*; D019973:Alcohol-Related Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015897:Comorbidity; D004651:Employment; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007297:Inpatients / Q000523:psychology*; D007558:Italy / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D011567:Psychiatric Department, Hospital / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012309:Risk-Taking; D012737:Sex Factors; D012907:Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology*; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*; D014029:Tobacco Use Disorder / Q000453:epidemiology*; D055815:Young Adult