The assessment of patients with alcohol disorders by an old age psychiatric service

There is evidence that older patients with alcohol problems may not be seen by psychiatric services, either because they do nor present, or because th eir alcohol problem is not detected. Even those who are found to have alcoh ol problems may not receive thorough assessments by old age psychiatrists. To test this hypothesis, we looked at referrals to an old age psychiatric s ervice over a nine-year period. Of the referrals, 102 (5%) had a diagnosis of disorders due to alcohol. The patients were younger (p<0.0001) and more likely to be male (p<0.0001) than general referrals to the service:Almost h alf (41%) also had a diagnosis of dementia. Examination of the notes of 61 patients showed that only 28% had a collateral history taken and half the s ample had a physical examination. Less than a half had blood tests (38%). O f the whole group, 33% were referred to social services and 10% were referr ed to alcohol services. These findings support the hypothesis that older pa tients with alcohol problems are not fully assessed by old age psychiatric services, and suggest that more attention should be paid to this vulnerable group of patients.