A DESCRIPTIVE STUDY OF ELDERLY COMMUNITY-DWELLING ALCOHOLIC PATIENTS IN THE RURAL SOUTH

Alcohol-related disorders, estimated to be more prevalent in the South , are associated with serious comorbid disorders, such as depression a nd suicide. In a rural outreach program, the authors examined patients with a diagnosis of alcoholism and compared them with nonalcoholic pa tients on various demographic and descriptive variables. Of 166 patien ts referred to the program 35 (21.1%) had an alcohol-related disorder Alcoholism was significantly associated with male gender and younger a ge, but nearly half of the alcoholic subjects were women. Alcoholism i s associated with inappropriate health care utilization; alcohol-relat ed disorders produced significantly more emergency room visits and som ewhat more hospital admission; these patients were less likely to have a primary care physician. No patient was receiving treatment for alco holism.