Alcohol Flashcards
What is the threshold for risk with drinking alcohol?
14 units or greater. It increases the risk of cancers of the mouth, liver, breast and lower digestive system. There is a greater short term risk for men, and greater long term risk for women.
Women over 55 will have protective effects from drinking 5 units or less a week, however there is no safe level of drinking.
What is the conceptual model of harm?
Interaction between the social, individual and biological factors that alcohol negatively affects.
What are the social risk factors for alcohol intake?
Culture of drinking and affordability
Drinking context with positive effects and influence from peers
Alcohol distribution and regulation
Level of development
What are the individual risk factors for alcohol addiction?
Younger age
Men are at a greater risk
Lower socioeconomic background
Family factors like adverse childhood events, divorce and death and birth
Low self-control
Conduct and mood disorders
When does mortality from alcohol present?
Around 50 years old, and is the most abused psychoactive drug that has a high inter generational transmission which causes a massive increase in the incidence of liver disease.
How can alcohol disorder be detected?
Alcohol disorder is based on:
Excessive alcohol consumption over 14 units a week.
Dependence: impaired control and takes over other aspects of life like responsibilities and maintaining hygeine
Harmful drinking that causes damage to self physical/mental health or others
What maintains alcohol use?
Alcohol withdrawal which shows acute symptoms for 5-7 days of agitation, shaking, and is more predominant in older people. There is a severe risk of death if it is not managed in the high risk groups.
What is the epidemiology of drinking in the UK?
Over half of the population are drinkers but there is increasing levels of non-drinkers, espeically abstinence in the younger groups.
What are the strategies to manage alcoholic addition?
Increasing taxation and pricing to reduce availability. Lowering blood alcohol levels (BAC) for driving and providing treatment and interventions.
What are the strategies for managing alcohol addiction?
Screenings and brief interventions for harmful alcohol use in GPs and secondary care. If this is not affordable in their practise, professionals should explore this for relevant patients.
Using a validated instrument to assess.
Those identified with a dependence should be referred to specialist treatment.
Brief intervention should provide personalised feedback for reducing consumption and a follow-up.
What are the tests to measure alcohol dependency?
AUDIT: Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test, where a score of 8 or above indicates alcohol misuse.
FAST- Fast Alcohol Screening Test for emergency departments, where a score of 3 or more indicates alcohol misuse.
What is the intervention strategy for alcohol use?
FRAMES
Feedback from the screening test
Responsibility of providing accurate
Advice
Menu of options to choose for managing alcohol use
Empathetic and non-judgmental
Self-efficacy in patient should be promoted
How is alcohol withdrawal managed?
Use of long-acting benzodiazepines. This is to prevent complications like Wernicke-Korsakoff, where neurotoxicity from alcohol due to thiamine deficiency causes altered mental state and ataxia.
What are the factors associated with alcohol relapse?
Social instability
Alcohol-free network
Family history of dependence
Previous treatment and failed attempts
How can healthcare professionals affect alcohol use?
Failure to recognise alcohol dependence as a stigma or withdrawal
Negative perception as weak willed
Failure to provide intervention or treatment
-> Individuals typically present at a severe stage of dependency with frequent previous attempts to quit.
