OCCURRENCE AND PREDICTIVE FACTORS OF PSYCHIATRIC COMORBIDITY IN INDIVIDUALS WITH ALCOHOL USE DISORDERS.

Abstract

Alcoholism is a disorder caused by an excessive and maladaptive pattern of alcohol consumption. A series of impairments can arise from such consumption, including psychiatric comorbidities. The objective of this study was to evaluate the rate of occurrence of anxiety and depression comorbidities in alcoholics and to investigate the associations of such comorbidities with the dose of ingested alcohol, period of alcohol use, personality traits and the presence of early emotional trauma. The sample consisted of 110 alcoholics, evaluated by the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV (SCID-IV – clinical version) and recruited at the Hepatopathy Outpatient Service of a University Hospital. Data collection was individual and took place through the application of self-evaluation instruments. Statistical analysis was performed using parametric statistics with a significance level of p≤0.05. The main results showed that 46.3% of alcoholics had psychiatric comorbidities with mood disorders and/or anxiety. In addition, according to the logistic regression model, the increase in the doses of alcohol ingested and the presence of early emotional traumas were risk factors for the development of such comorbidities in alcoholics: (ODDS=1.18; p=0.005) and (ODDS=1.17; p=0.001), respectively. These data indicate the need for early intervention with regard to the primary care of both alcoholics who suffered early trauma and alcoholics who ingest large amounts of alcohol daily to decrease the risk of psychiatric comorbidities in this high-risk group.