Alcohol drinking patterns and medical care use in an HMO setting

The objective of this study was to examine the association of medical care use (outpatient visits and hospitalization) with alcohol drinking patterns in a large health maintenance organization (HMO). Data were gathered from a random sample of 10,292 adult respondents through a telephone survey condu cted between June 1994 and February 1996. Findings indicate that current no ndrinkers with no past history of drinking had higher rates of outpatient v isits and hospitalizations than current drinkers. Among current drinkers, m edical care use declined slightly as drinking levels increased. Among nondr inkers, those with a drinking history exhibited significantly higher use of outpatient visits and hospital care than nondrinkers with no drinking hist ory and current drinkers. Controlling for demographic and socioeconomic fac tors, health status, and common medical conditions in multivariate analyses suggests that nondrinkers with a drinking history use more services becaus e they are sicker than other nondrinkers or current drinkers.