Stressful life events and severity of alcohol consumption in male psychiatric inpatients.

Aim: To assess the levels of alcohol consumption and the level of stress faced by male patients hospitalized with psychiatric disorders in a military hospital.

Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 100 consecutive patients admitted to a tertiary care psychiatric center and 100 controls. The patients with psychiatric ailments were first stabilized mentally and physically and then assessed. For the collection of demographic data, a questionnaire was prepared which was administered to all patients. The Armed Forces Medical College Life Events scale was used for the assessment of stressful life events. The Michigan Alcohol Screening Test (MAST) was applied as a screening procedure for alcohol use disorder. For assessing the severity of alcohol consumption, the Hilton Drinking Behavior Questionnaire (HDBQ) was utilized.

Results: Analysis revealed that 16% of the psychiatric patients scored above the cutoff score on the MAST compared to 2% of controls. On the HDBQ, 22% of the psychiatric patients had a significant score compared to 4% of controls. Patients with psychiatric disorders experienced significantly more number of life events compared to the controls irrespective of the length of service. The Psychiatric group experienced significantly more life change units both in 1-year prior and in lifetime period.

Conclusion: Psychiatric patients face significantly higher stressful life events, experience significantly more life changes, and consume significantly more alcohol as compared to healthy participants.