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Biomedical subjects

B Ritson

Publications and source records attributed to B Ritson.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1997

Place of work, communities and municipalities.

The Paris conference recognized that although national social policy and international research were undoubtedly important, a local dimension to research action and planning was essential. The potential for community and municipal action was illustrated in a number of papers which are summarized here. It was also the subject of a publication in the series associated with the European Alcohol Action Plan. The work-place was taken as a significant microcosm of a community, where healthy company policy and an enlightened approach to providing early help and support to individuals with alcohol-related problems is particularly beneficial.

Alcohol Drinking↗
PubMed1996

The SECCAT survey: I. The costs and consequences of alcoholism.

The SECCAT survey assessed the Socio-Economic Costs and Consequences of Alcoholism Treatment. Basic demographic and health service resource use data (for a previous 6-month period) were obtained fro a cohort of 586 eligible patients who had had treatment at the Alcohol Problems Clinic (APC) in Edinburgh. The cohort was 75% male with a mean age of 46.0 years. Seventy-six per cent had an initial diagnosis of alcohol dependence and 21% alcohol abuse. Use of health services was highly variable. Thirty-six per cent agreed to be interviewed to provide data on their level of abstinence, on resource use, on quality of life (SF-36), on socio-economic characteristics and key adverse events. These 212 individuals had similar age and sex ratios to the full cohort, but alcohol abusers were under-represented. Nineteen patients reported no days of abstinence and 41 were abstinent over the whole 6-month period. Patients experienced a much poorer quality of life than a normal population in terms of all dimensions of the SF-36. The average total health care costs of the interviewed patients were 1134 pounds of which 38% were related to treatment at the APC. Analysis suggests that alcohol-dependent patients make substantially more costly use of resources than abusers and experience a much poorer quality of life. No clear relationship of cost to degree of abstinence has been found. There is a clear and consistent relationship of SF-36 scores and drinking behavior.

Adult↗
PubMed1994

Preventive strategies for alcohol-related problems.

Preventive strategies for alcohol-related problems need to be in keeping with their socio-political context. Prohibition is inappropriate except where it has widespread support within the culture. Preventive strategies focus on the population and/or high risk groups and behaviours. Primary prevention can be achieved by control policies, education and provision of alternatives. Fiscal measures are of proven value. Legislative approaches influence availability and context of drinking, such as drinking and driving. Advertising control, server training and server liability are further approaches. Encouraging the provision of alternative beverages and promoting alcohol-free environments is a further approach which should be seen as part of an integrated community response. Secondary prevention linked with early recognition of hazardous drinking at primary level is of known efficacy and would form part of a coordinated strategy.

Alcohol Drinking↗
PubMed1992

Disulfiram treatment of alcoholism.

To assess the efficacy of supervised disulfiram as an adjunct to out-patient treatment of alcoholics, a randomised, partially blind, six-month follow-up study was conducted in which 126 patients received 200 mg disulfiram or 100 mg vitamin C under the supervision of a nominated informant. In the opinion of the (blinded) independent assessor, patients on disulfiram increased average total abstinent days by 100 and patients on vitamin C by 69, thus enhancing by one-third this measure of treatment outcome. Mean weekly alcohol consumption was reduced by 162 units with disulfiram, compared with 105 units with vitamin C, and the disulfiram patients reduced their total six-month alcohol consumption by 2572 units compared with an average reduction of 1448 units in the vitamin C group. Serum gamma-GT showed a mean fall of 21 IU/I in patients on disulfiram but rose by a mean of 13 IU/I with vitamin C. Unwanted effects in the disulfiram group led to a dose reduction in seven patients and to treatment withdrawal in four (and in one vitamin C patient). Two-thirds of the disulfiram group asked to continue the treatment at the end of the study. There were no medically serious adverse reactions.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1989

Consistency of reported levels of alcohol-related problems in the community.

Regular drinkers identified in a general population survey of adults in the Lothian region were followed up 3 or 4 years later, with respect to alcohol-related problems. Using a variety of analytic methods, a moderate degree of temporal consistency in problems was found, for total number of problems, and for individual problems, with feeling ashamed of having done something while drunk being the most consistent.

Adult↗
PubMed1986

Medical admissions in men: the risk among drinkers.

Information on alcohol consumption was elicited by the same method from men in a general population survey and from male medical inpatients in a hospital serving that population. A measure of risk controlling for age, the logarithm of the odds ratio, showed that for liver disorders, upper gastrointestinal disorders, myocardial infarction, other cardiovascular disorders, and respiratory disorders, rising consumption of alcohol was related to increased risk of hospital admission relative to abstention. The risk of admission for the remaining heterogeneous category of disorders was lower than that for abstention, perhaps reflecting the effect of chronic illness on drinking habits, and also suggesting that the link between alcohol consumption and medical diagnoses is not simply due to greater frankness about drinking in hospital inpatients.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1986

Comparison of two benzodiazepines in the treatment of alcohol withdrawal: effects on symptoms and cognitive recovery.

Forty newly admitted alcohol-dependent patients were randomly allocated to equivalent 6-day regimes of either lorazepam or diazepam, to compare involvement in physical, emotional and cognitive state during the first 8 days in hospital. Diazepam provided a more comfortable withdrawal period and was associated with slightly better cognitive functioning on the eighth day.

Adult↗