Alcohol‐related Problems Amongst Selected Hospital Patients and the Cost Incurred in Their Care

Summary A retrospective comparison of the number of specified alcohol‐related discharges deaths from non‐psychiatric hospitals using Hospital Inpatient Enquiry and Hospital Activity Analysis dam for the North East Thames Region for 1982 indicated a discrepancy of 25% in principal diagnoses between these two official data sources. When second, third and fourth diagnostic categories for the same conditions were included, the magnitude of the discrepancy increased substantially. In the North East Thames Region 2,404 discharges/deaths in which alcohol played some role would not have been identified if only principal diagnoses had been examined. In 1983, 447 alcohol‐related discharges/deaths were recorded in Hospital Activity Analysis data from four District Health Authorities in the North East Thames Region which were estimated to have incurred a cost of £401,370. A further 349 discharges/deaths were recorded in which an alcohol‐related problems appeared in a subsidiary diagnostic category and these were estimated to have incurred a cost of £285,018. When facilities for direct surveying are not available. Hospital Activity Analysis data provider more detailed information than Hospital Inpatient Enquiry: data und should be used in preference for collecting information on disease prevalence and costings. Simple standardised computer programmers could be designed to allow for easier access to, and retrieval of information from, this data source.