03. tbl. 112. árg. 2026
Fræðigrein
Alcohol related hospitalizations in Landspitali University Hospital have increased significantly in recent years
Rannsókn. Áfengistengdum innlögnum á Landspítalann hefur fjölgað mikið á síðustu árum
doi 10.17992/lbl.2026.03.882
Correspondence: Hildur Jonsdottir, hildurjo@landspitali.is
Key words: alcohol related admissions, public health, hospitalization, alcohol
Introduction: The harmful effects of alcohol are well known but a variable proportion of hospital admissions are due to alcohol related problems. The aim of the current study was to examine the number of alcohol-related admissions to Landspitali University Hospital 2005-2022 and to investigate whether there has been an increase during the period.
Methods: A search was undertaken for alcohol related ICD-10 diagnostic codes at the Landspítali University Hospital and information was collected on all those who had received one or more of these diagnoses upon discharge from 2005 to 2022. Relevant clinical data was obtained.
Results: A total of 2925 alcohol-related admissions were found during the study period, 1779 patients were admitted, 1168 men (66%) and 611 women (34%), with a median age of 54 years. Alcohol-related admissions increased from 34 per 100,000 population in 2005 to 64 per 100,000 in 2022. At the beginning of the study period, the proportion of alcohol-related admissions of all admissions to Landspítali was 0.32% whereas at the end of the period, the proportion had increased to 0.95%. The median length of stay was 6 days. The dominating diagnoses were related to mental and behavioural disorders (n=1878), alcohol-related liver disease (n=923), alcohol-related pancreatitis (n=457), and diseases of the nervous system (n=210), of whom 144 had Wernicke‘s disease.
Conclusions: Alcohol-related hospitalizations increased by 88% between 2005 and 2022. The most common diagnoses were mental and behavioral disorders and liver and pancreatic diseases. This has led to a significant cost increase for the healthcare system and society as a whole.
Figure 1: Flowchart of the sample selection process
Figure 2: Number of alcohol-related admissions by time period
Figure 3: Gender distribution of alcohol-related hospitalizations by period.
Figure 4: Number of individuals who were admitted more than once during the study period.
Table I: The number of alcohol-related admissions, the total number of admissions and age standardized number of alcohol-related admissions in Landspítali in the years 2005-2022.
|
Ár |
Number of alcohol-related admissions |
Total number of admissions to Landspítali |
Alcohol-related admissions as a proportion of all admissions % |
Alcohol-related admissions per 100.000 population |
Age-standardized number of alcohol-related admissions per 100.000 population (95% CI) |
|
2005 |
101 |
31.049 |
0,33 |
34 |
51 (42-63) |
|
2006 |
91 |
27.943 |
0,33 |
30 |
45 (36-56) |
|
2007 |
111 |
27.241 |
0,41 |
35 |
50 (41-61) |
|
2008 |
106 |
28.563 |
0,37 |
33 |
49 (40-60) |
|
2009 |
144 |
28.596 |
0,50 |
45 |
66 (55-78) |
|
2010 |
165 |
27.728 |
0,60 |
51 |
76 (65-90) |
|
2011 |
168 |
27.630 |
0,61 |
53 |
81 (69-95) |
|
2012 |
180 |
27.317 |
0,66 |
56 |
81 (69-94) |
|
2013 |
142 |
26.753 |
0,53 |
44 |
62 (52-73) |
|
2014 |
177 |
26.227 |
0,67 |
54 |
76 (65-88) |
|
2015 |
148 |
25.227 |
0,59 |
45 |
60 (51-72) |
|
2016 |
164 |
26.252 |
0,62 |
48 |
70 (59-81) |
|
2017 |
167 |
26.759 |
0,62 |
48 |
66 (56-77) |
|
2018 |
184 |
25.185 |
0,73 |
52 |
73 (62-84) |
|
2019 |
188 |
25.404 |
0,74 |
52 |
73 (63-85) |
|
2020 |
209 |
24.656 |
0,85 |
56 |
80 (69-91) |
|
2021 |
230 |
27.076 |
0,85 |
61 |
85 (74-97) |
|
2022 |
250 |
26.379 |
0,95 |
64 |
84 (74-95) |
Table II: The number of alcohol-related admissions, the median length of stay, the longest stay and total number of days spent in the hospital by department
|
Department |
Number of admissions |
Median length of stay in days |
Longest stay in days |
Total number of days spent in the hospital |
|
Internal medicine |
1.588 |
5 (IQR: 3-11) |
172 |
15.833 |
|
Psychiatry |
1.000 |
5 (IQR: 1-11) |
343 |
11.195 |
|
Surgery |
187 |
5 (IQR: 3-10) |
92 |
1.909 |
|
Geriatrics |
154 |
30 (IQR: 16-71) |
301 |
7.666 |
|
Intensive Care Unit |
186 |
5 (IQR: 2-11) |
87 |
1.683 |
|
Rehabilitation |
47 |
22 (IQR: 14-45) |
213 |
1.643 |
Table III: Calculations of the cost of alcohol-related admissions. Costs are based on 2023 prices. Information on the average cost per day in inpatient wards at Landspítali by different departments was obtained from the Economic Department of Landspítali.
|
Department |
Average cost per day in ISK |
Number of days spent at hospital |
Total cost |
|
Internal medicine |
323.726 ISK |
15.833 |
5.125.553.758 ISK |
|
Psychiatry |
219.577 ISK |
11.195 |
2.458.164.515 ISK |
|
Surgery |
467.606 ISK |
1.909 |
892.659.854 ISK |
|
Geriatric and rehabilitation |
136.991 ISK |
9.309 |
1.275.249.219 ISK |
|
Intensive Care Unit |
974.025 ISK |
1.683 |
1.639.284.075 ISK |
|
Total: |
39.929 |
11.390.911.421 ISK |
Table IV: The number of admissions recorded with alcohol-related diagnoses
|
Diagnosis |
Number of admissions |
|
Mental and behavioral disorders due to use of alcohol |
|
|
F10.1 Harmful use of alcohol |
1379 |
|
F10.2 Alcohol dependence |
643 |
|
F10.9 Mental and behavioral disorder due to use of alcohol, unspecified |
9 |
|
Diseases of the digestive system |
|
|
K29.2 Alcoholic gastritis |
20 |
|
K70.0 Alcoholic fatty liver |
45 |
|
K70.1 Alcoholic hepatitis |
347 |
|
K70.2 Alcoholic fibrosis and sclerosis of liver |
4 |
|
K70.3 Alcoholic cirrhosis of liver |
475 |
|
K70.4 Alcoholic hepatic failure |
68 |
|
K70.9 Alcoholic liver disease, unspecified |
47 |
|
K85.2 Alcohol-induced acute pancreatitis |
270 |
|
K86.0 Alcohol-induced chronic pancreatitis |
200 |
|
Diseases of the nervous system |
|
|
E51.2 Wernicke's encephalopathy |
144 |
|
G31.2 Degeneration of nervous system due to alcohol |
27 |
|
G62.1 Alcoholic polyneuropathy |
40 |
|
G72.1 Alcoholic myopathy |
8 |
|
Other diagnoses |
|
|
I42.6 Alcoholic cardiomyopathy |
20 |
|
R78.0 Finding of alcohol in the blood |
2 |
|
T51.0 Toxic effect of ethanol |
16 |
|
Z71.4 Alcohol abuse counseling and surveillance |
17 |
|
Y90 Evidence of alcohol involvement determined by blood alcohol level |
7 |
Supplementary table 1: Age distribution of those admitted by department and period and gender distribution by period.
|
Median age Years (range) |
Patients younger than 50 years n (%) |
Patients 50 years or older n (%) |
|
|
Department (N = 3179) |
|||
|
Internal medicine |
57 (19-90) |
388 (24%) |
1200 (76%) |
|
Psychiatry |
41 (15-85) |
710 (71%) |
290 (29%) |
|
Surgery |
58 (21-87) |
58 (31%) |
129 (69%) |
|
Geriatrics |
75 (56-94) |
0 (0%) |
154 (100%) |
|
Intensive Care Unit |
53 (13-86) |
69 (37%) |
117 (63%) |
|
Rehabilitation |
62 (31-86) |
8 (17%) |
39 (83%) |
|
Patient hotel |
60 (25-75) |
5 (29%) |
12 (71%) |
|
Period (N = 2925) |
|||
|
2005-2010 |
53 (17-86) |
308 (43%) |
410 (57%) |
|
2011-2016 |
54 (17-90) |
386 (39%) |
593 (61%) |
|
2017-2022 |
54 (13-94) |
469 (38%) |
759 (62%) |
|
Men n (%) |
Women n (%) |
P-value |
|
|
Period (N = 2925) |
|||
|
2005-2010 |
516 (72%) |
202 (28%) |
< 0,0001 |
|
2011-2016 |
643 (66%) |
336 (34%) |
< 0,0001 |
|
2017-2022 |
817 (67%) |
411 (33%) |
< 0,0001 |