Persistence of substance use-related hospital utilization among psychiatric consultation patients

Among 86 consecutive consultation-liaison (C-L) patients with current subst ance use-related hospital attendance, the case records revealed an average history of 5.9 years in male patients and 5.3 years in female patients of r epeated substance use-related hospital visits. A history of at least 1 year was found in 60% (52/86) of patients. The history had started at the age o f early 30s with attempted suicide as the most common principal diagnosis. By the age of 40, there had been several hospital visits for various health problems. However, 48% (41/86) of the patients had never received substanc e use treatment. It appeared that opportunities to intervene with substance use were frequently missed on hospital encounters, a finding also observed in earlier studies.