Epidemiology of Alcohol-related Emergency Hospital Admissions in Children and Adolescents: An E-cohort Analysis in Wales in 2006-2011

Overview

Journal PLoS One

Specialties General Medicine
Science

Date 2019 Jun 5

PMID 31163052

Citations 4

Authors

Laszlo Trefan

Andrea Gartner

Amy Alcock

Daniel Farewell

Jennifer Morgan

David Fone

Shantini Paranjothy

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Objective: Harmful levels of alcohol consumption in young people are prevalent and of increasing public concern in the western world. Rates of alcohol-related emergency hospital admissions in children and young people between 10 to 17 years were described, and the reasons for these admissions and their association with socio-demographic factors were examined.

Methods: E-cohort data were extracted from the Secure Anonymised Information Linkage Databank, which contained alcohol-related emergency hospital admissions (N = 2968) from 2006 to 2011 in children and adolescents aged 10 to 17 years in Wales. A generalised linear mixed model was fitted using a log-link with a population offset to the data to calculate incident rate ratios (IRRSs).

Results: There was a general decreasing trend from 2006 to 2011 in the number and rate of alcohol-related emergency hospital admissions; the mean age of admission was 15.4 (standard deviation 1.4) years. In each of the four youngest age groups (10-13,14,15,16 years), females had higher IRRs than males. Males had slightly higher IRR compared to females only in the oldest age group (17 years). IRRs increased with increasing deprivation. The majority (92%) of the admissions lasted one day and most of the admissions (70%) occured during the last three days of the week with a peak on Saturday. The length of stay in hospital was longer in cases when self-harm were present. Multiple admissions showed high prevalance of serious self-harm cases in females. The number of admissions with injuries and falls were higher for males than females.

Conclusion: Female children and adolescents were more likely to be admitted to hospital for alcohol-related reasons. These data illustrate the significant burden of alcohol-related harm in young people and highlight the need for interventions and policies that promote safe drinking practices among young people to prevent future alcohol-related harm during the life-course.

Citing Articles

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Implications of the decline in adolescent drinking on the experience of alcohol-related consequences in the Nordic countries: A study based on data from the ESPAD project.

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Incidence, Mortality and Survival in Young People with Co-Occurring Mental Disorders and Substance Use: A Retrospective Linked Routine Data Study in Wales.

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