Jg. Ryan et al., HEALTH OUTCOMES OF WOMEN EXPOSED TO HOUSEHOLD ALCOHOL-ABUSE - A FAMILY-PRACTICE TRAINING SITE RESEARCH NETWORK (FPTSRN) STUDY, Journal of family practice, 45(5), 1997, pp. 410-417
BACKGROUND. There is a paucity of knowledge about the effects of expos
ure to alcohol abuse in the household on women who do not abuse alcoho
l. The purpose of this study was to determine whether women who did no
t abuse alcohol demonstrated any health-related adverse effects becaus
e they lived with family members who did abuse alcohol. METHODS. This
study was a historical prospective survey of female patients at five p
rimary care practices. Survey instruments included the CAGE questionna
ire, a five-item screening test for exposure to alcoholism, and the Me
dical Outcomes Study 36-item Short Form Health Survey (MOS SF-36). Pat
ient records were examined for specific diagnoses. RESULTS. A total of
267 patients completed the questionnaires and had complete medical re
cords available for analysis. Forty-two (15.7%) potential alcohol abus
ers were excluded from the sample leaving a working total of 225; 70 (
31.1.%) were potentially exposed to alcoholism in the household. Women
exposed to alcohol abuse in the home did not experience an increased
risk for the medical diagnoses studied, but they did demonstrate decre
ased health-related quality of life as measured by the MOS-SF-36 for t
he following scales: role physical (P=.025), role emotional (P=.038),
social functioning (P=.001), bodily pain (P=.016), and mental health (
P=.040). CONCLUSIONS. Women exposed to alcohol abuse in the household
are more likely to perceive themselves as less healthy. Although they
may not have received a clinical diagnosis of depression, they are mor
e likely to feel depressed. The extent to which subjects' health-relat
ed quality of life is influenced by exposure to alcohol abuse suggests
that the medical diagnosis may be insensitive as a description of hea
lth status in this population.