Abstract

Introduction and aim. Chronic alcoholism determines complex metabolic disorders that involve different organs. In our country there are few epidemiologic data on the pathology related to the alcohol consumption. We aimed to look for the consequences of chronic alcoholism in an urban community from Transylvania.

Methods. We carried out an epidemiologic study of medical disorders attributed to chronic alcohol consumption. We investigated a group of 928 patients (381 females, 547 males), aged 25-66 years, from a community of 3000 people, who declared consuming more than 20 g alcoohol per day and completed the CAGE questionnaire. Data were analyzed by descriptive statistical methods.

Results. We observed a higher prevalence of digestive and metabolic diseases, and the prevalence was higher in males over 45 years than in females. Liver cirrhosis and liver steatosis were encountered in 2.69% males and 1.33% women, and 8.82% males and 6.13% women respectively. Peripheral neuropathy was 0.99% in males and 0.55% in females. Overall the prevalence levels were lower than expected.

Conclusions. Complications caused by chronic ethanol consumptions have higher prevalence after 4 years and are more common in males than in females.

Keywords

alcohol, chronic alcoholism, chronic diseases, risk factors