• Scott A Larson, M Caroline Burton, Deanne T Kashiwagi, Zachary P Hugo, Stephen S Cha, and Maria I Lapid.
• Department of Medicine, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota 55905, USA.
• J Hosp Med. 2012 Oct 1; 7 (8): 617621617-21.

ObjectiveThe objective was to identify risk factors for multiple admissions for alcohol withdrawal syndrome (AWS) in patients admitted to a general medicine service.MethodsA retrospective study was performed examining records of patients admitted for AWS between January 1, 2006 and December 31, 2008 to an academic tertiary referral hospital. Patients with a single admission were compared to patients with multiple admissions with respect to demographic and clinical variables.ResultsThree hundred and twenty-two patients accounted for 788 admissions. Of the 322 patients, 142 (44%) had multiple admissions. Compared to patients with a single admission, patients with multiple admissions were more likely to have a high school education or less (p=0.0071), a higher Charlson comorbidity index score (p=0.0010), a positive urine drug screen for non-alcohol drug (p=0.0002), psychiatric comorbidity (p=0.0303) and a higher CIWA-Ar maximum total score (p<0.0001).ConclusionIn patients with AWS, we identified demographic and clinical variables associated with multiple admissions to a general medicine service. Our results indicate areas for a targeted multidisciplinary and multispecialty approach at initial intervention, which is especially important given the high rates of recidivism in this patient population.Copyright © 2012 Society of Hospital Medicine.

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