ALCOHOL-USE AMONG SPINAL CORD-INJURED PATIENTS

Patients with spinal cord injury (SCI) are at greater risk than others for alcohol abuse because they face physical, psychological and vocat ional difficulties that include sensory impairment, pain, depression a nd reduced opportunities to participate actively in society. This stud y assesses the utility of using a brief screening interview questionna ire, the CAGE (cut, annoyed, guilty and eye opener), to further evalua te patients with SCI for alcohol use, including alcoholism using retro spective data. The study explores patterns of alcohol consumption amon g SCI patients and investigates the relationship between self-reported alcohol use, age, previous history of drug and alcohol abuse and medi cal complications after discharge. Results suggest that the CAGE is a valid measure to be used with SCI patients. Age did not correlate sign ificantly with patient's CAGE scores. However, SCI subjects with highe r mean CAGE scores also had a higher incidence of medical complication s. CAGE scores were significantly correlated with previous history of alcohol and drug abuse and with the average weekly number of drinks re portedly consumed before injury.