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Annals of General Psychiatry
Published in: Annals of General Psychiatry 1/2019

Open Access 01-12-2019 | Primary research

Alcohol consumption in Austrian physicians

Authors: Edda Pjrek, Leo Silberbauer, Siegfried Kasper, Dietmar Winkler

Published in: Annals of General Psychiatry | Issue 1/2019

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Abstract

Background

Alcohol is one of the leading exogenous causes for adverse health consequences in Europe. The aim of the present study was to examine the pattern of alcohol consumption in Austrian physicians.

Methods

A telephone survey was conducted in 400 office-based physicians in Austria. Our questionnaire included the four questions of the CAGE questionnaire and questions to assess alcohol consumption on the previous day.

Results

131 participants (32.8%) completed the interview. 3.8% of the subjects had a CAGE score of 2 or higher indicating a problem with alcohol, but this rate was not statistically different from numbers reported for the general population (4.1%). 46.6% of our subjects had drunken alcohol on the previous day. Compared to the general population, the rate of having drunk alcohol yesterday was higher in both gender of our sample, but the amount of alcohol drunk was significantly lower. Doctors in rural areas had drunken alcohol more frequently and in greater quantities on the previous day than those in urban areas. There was a positive correlation between age and the amount of drinking on the previous day, and between age and CAGE scores. Furthermore, subjects who had consumed alcohol yesterday obtained higher scores on the CAGE.

Conclusions

Our findings indicate that the rate of Austrian physicians with problematic alcohol consumption is similar to the general population. Physicians in rural areas and older doctors might be of higher risk for alcohol abuse.
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Metadata
Title
Alcohol consumption in Austrian physicians
Authors
Edda Pjrek
Leo Silberbauer
Siegfried Kasper
Dietmar Winkler
Publication date
01-12-2019
Publisher
BioMed Central
Published in
Annals of General Psychiatry / Issue 1/2019
Electronic ISSN: 1744-859X
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12991-019-0246-2

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