2020 Volume 32 Issue 3 Pages 262-267
A psychiatrist at a psychiatric hospital, a specialist in addiction, has started an alcohol liaison consultation at a general hospital in Japan. The psychiatrist examined outpatients and inpatients twice a month. Patients diagnosed with alcoholism received a motivational interview and were referred to a specialized psychiatric institution. This was followed by a one-year case series study. The study included 47 outpatients and 30 inpatients. The average AUDIT score for inpatients was 22.5, of which 21 (70%) were diagnosed with alcohol dependence based on ICD-10 criteria. Of the inpatients with the addiction, 14 (67%) were referred to a specialized psychiatric hospital. Since the start of the liaison practice, the number of alcoholics who have been referred to the psychiatric institution from the general hospital has more than doubled from 12 to 25 per year. More alcohol dependent patients may be treated by addiction specialists performing alcohol liaison consultations in general hospitals. This collaboration can also be a way to reduce the treatment gap between primary care and specialized medical care for alcoholism.
