Mortality Among Male and Female Alcoholic Patients Treated in a Psychiatric Unit

A series of patients consisting of 139 men and 118 women had themselves sought treatment and were admitted to a psychiatric unit under a diagnosis of alcohol abuse. Prior to admission, they had not been registered for drinking offences. The series was studied with regard to mortality during an observation period from 5 to 10 years. Compared to the general population the mortality was high for both sexes, and this was more pronounced for women than for men. However, since alcoholism is much more widespread among men, mortality in the male population is affected by alcoholism to a greater extent than mortality in the female population. Differences in excess mortality between the sexes in this study disappear if death‐risks applying to men are also applied to women. The specific causes of death broadly follow the same pattern as in earlier studies. The excess mortality from accidents was, however, remarkably low. An explanation for this may be that accidental deaths, more than deaths from other causes, are correlated to the social effects of abuse. Suicide through drug intoxication was more common among women than among men; this corresponds to the situation in the general population.