• Karen Hunting Tollisen, Marianne Bjerva, Cathrine Lund Hadley, Gry T Dahl, Lisa Maria Högvall, Leiv Sandvik, Fridtjof Heyerdahl, and Dag Jacobsen.
• Faculty of Medicine, Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.
• Acta Anaesthesiol Scand. 2020 Mar 1; 64 (3): 329-337.

BackgroundAlcohol and drug abuse are potentially modifiable risk factors for critical illness. The aims of this study were to describe patients with substance abuse-related admissions (abbreviated SARA) in a mixed intensive care (ICU) population in Oslo, and to compare these patients with patients with non-SARA.MethodsCross-sectional prospective study of a mixed medical and surgical ICU-population in Oslo, Norway. Data were collected consecutively using a questionnaire, medical records, and toxicology results. SARA included admissions due to acute or chronic complications of alcohol or drug abuse, as well as substance abuse-related injuries.ResultsOf the 852 patients included, 168 (20%) had SARA; 102 (12%) alcohol-related and 66 (8%) drug-related. Male patients aged 18-39 had the highest proportion of SARA (47/97, 49%). Among the trauma patients, 69/182 (38%) were influenced by alcohol and drugs at the time of injury. Patients with SARA were significantly younger (median age 48 vs 66), had lower Charlson comorbidity index (mean 1.4 vs 2.5) and shorter length of stay (median days 2.4 vs 4.9), than non-SARA patients. Hospital mortality was similar when adjusting for age (OR 0.8, P = .27, non-SARA as reference).ConclusionOverall, one in five ICU admissions was associated with substance abuse. For male patients aged 18-39 this ratio was nearly half. More than one third of the trauma patients were influenced by alcohol or drugs at time of injury.© 2019 The Authors. Acta Anaesthesiologica Scandinavica published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Acta Anaesthesiologica Scandinavica Foundation.

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