Prevalence and characteristics associated with concurrent smoking and alcohol misuse within Australian general practice patients.

Conclusions There was an increasing prevalence of smoking with increasing level of alcohol consumption. In addition, those with chronic conditions who smoked had greater odds of higher levels of alcohol consumption. Preventative interventions for these substances are needed to reduce the burden associated with concurrent smoking and alcohol misuse.What is known about the topic? Tobacco and alcohol are the most commonly used substances and contribute to over 10 million deaths annually. The risk of disease is high when using either of these substances, however, concurrent use is associated with a greatly compounded risk. Australian data is limited regarding the prevalence of concurrent tobacco and alcohol misuse, however, international studies suggest variation in prevalence rates between different clinical settings.What does this paper add? This study examined the prevalence of concurrent smoking and alcohol misuse among different levels of alcohol misuse severity within an Australian general practice setting. Additionally it explored whether the associations between demographic characteristics and alcohol use differ according to smoking status.What are the implications for practitioners? This study has important implications for disease prevention and the delivery of preventive health services by general practitioners. Considering one in 100 clinical treatments provided in general practice relate to preventative smoking or alcohol counselling, it is critical that efforts ar...
Source: Australian Health Review - Category: Hospital Management Authors: Tags: Aust Health Rev Source Type: research