Prevalencia de bebedores - problema entre adultos consultantes por morbilidad en Postas rurales VI Región

Abstract

A study of the prevalence of problem drinkers was carried out in the adult population attending six rural health centres in the sixth region of Chile. Medical interns on their rural internship asked a short questionnaire during routine history taking of 254 subjects. 28.3% of the total sample were scored as problem drinkers, 58.9% of whom were males and 16% females. These figures are comparable to those found in the in-patients on medical wards and out-patients in the casualty departments in Santiago. The male/female ratio is smaller in areas where the total prevalence is higher, suggesting a probable flexibility in the cultural norms for alcohol consumption. A higher rate of problem drinkers was found in patients attending with gastro-intestinal, respiratory or infectious pathology.