Key result
In patients with hypertension, comorbid major depression emerged as the strongest predictor for a subsequent diagnosis of alcohol use disorder, increasing the risk more than threefold (HR 3.123).
Why the study?
Alcohol use disorder is often diagnosed late or missed in hypertensive patients, prompting investigation into additional risk factors for receiving an AUD diagnosis.
Cohort (n=103,623)
Answers are grounded in this paper and cite their sources.
In patients with hypertension, comorbid conditions such as depression, anxiety, malnutrition, and respiratory disease strongly predict a subsequent diagnosis of alcohol use disorder, highlighting the need for proactive alcohol screening.
BACKGROUND: Alcohol use disorder (AUD) is often discovered very late or not at all, with a risk of undertreatment. High alcohol consumption may lead to hypertension. and hypertensive patients should be asked about their alcohol use. Our aim was to look at additional risk factors for receiving a diagnosis of AUD in patients with hypertension. METHODS: Using the Norwegian full coverage patient registry, we investigated all patients who received an ICD-10 diagnosis of hypertension and who were routinely registered in the specialized healthcare services in 2010. These were followed for six years and those who subsequently received an ICD-10 AUD diagnosis were identified. Age, sex and comorbidities found in the patient registry were used as covariates. RESULTS: Of the 103 623 patients diagnosed with hypertension in 2010, 1517 (1.46%) were later diagnosed with AUD. Male sex, young age, having several comorbidities, malnutrition and respiratory disease, anxiety, and especially a diagnosis of major depression increased the risk of being diagnosed with AUD in these hypertensive patients. CONCLUSION: Only a small proportion of the hypertensive patients were later diagnosed with AUD, reflecting that patient registries are poor indicators of true AUD prevalence, since AUD is heavily underdiagnosed. However, the current findings suggest that comorbid conditions such as depression, anxiety, malnutrition, and respiratory disease in hypertensive patients should prompt clinicians to assess alcohol use more proactively. This could in turn lead to better care for both those with hypertension and alcohol problems.
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Bramness et al. (2025) conducted a cohort in Hypertension (n=103,623). Comorbid major depression vs. Hypertensive patients without major depression was evaluated on Incident diagnosis of alcohol use disorder (AUD) (HR 3.123, 95% CI 2.888-3.406, p=<0.001). In patients with hypertension, comorbid major depression emerged as the strongest predictor for a subsequent diagnosis of alcohol use disorder, increasing the risk more than threefold (HR 3.123).
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