Læknablaðið : fylgirit - 01.12.1983, Síða 91

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nauðsynlegra þegar vitað er, að stór hluti misnot-
enda og fíkninotenda hætta misnotkun án aðgerða.
Hingað til hefur drykkjusýki og gangur hennar
aðallega verið metin af reynslunni hjá þeim, sem
verst hafa verið famir og ekki hefur náð að batna af
sjálfu sér, svo að þeir þurftu á vist að halda á
geðdeildum. Mörgum sjúklingum batnar af sjálfu
sér áður en þeir komast undir læknishendur, líklega
einhverjum drykkjusjúkum og misnotendum líka.
Frekari rannsókna er þörf til að greina þennan hóp
svo að hægt sé að einbeita kröftunum að hinum,
sem ekki geta hjálpað sér sjálfir, þeim sem ekki
batnar án utanaðkomandi hjálpar. Síðamefnda
hópinn þarf einnig að rannsaka frekar til að greina
meðferðarþarfir hans. Sumum kunna að nægja
einfaldar og ódýrar aðgerðir, en aðrir þurfa flókna
og langvinna meðferð.
ÞAKKIR:
Þeim, sem aðstoöuðu okkur við þessa rannsókn, kunn-
um við bestu þakkir, sérstaklega Áfengisvamaráði,
Hannesi Péturssyni, yfirlækni, Jóhannesi Bergsveins-
syni, yfirlækni, Stefáni Jóhannssyni, fulltrúa, Vilhjálmi
Þ. Vilhjálmssyni, framkvæmdastjóra, Þórarni Tyrfings-
syni, lækni og Þorsteini Guðlaugssyni, endurskoðanda.
SUMMARY
Incidence of alcoholism and alcohol abuse
Variations in the incidence rates of alcoholism and
their relation to annual alcohol consumption and chang-
es in treatment facilities are studied. Methods of evalu-
ating the incidence of alcoholism because of the unclear
definition of the concept are discussed.
AIl first admissions (contacts) because of alcoholism
and drug abuse over a period of thirty one years from
1951 to 1981 were analyzed. The results indicate a closer
relationship between first admissions of alcoholics and
available treatment facilities than between first
admissions and total alcohol consumption.
The incidence was highest when new treatment facili-
ties opened as was the case in 1953 to 1957 and after
1976. In the first period the estimated incidence rate was
219 pr. 100.000 pop. 15 years and older, but had in-
creased to 384 for the last four years. The female/male
ratio in the treatment seeking population changed dur-
ing the thirty years from 1:19 to 1:3.
The number of treatment facilities affected the age of
the treatment seeking population. In periods with in-
creased treatment facilities the mean age dropped but
went higher again when treatment facilities were more
stable.
In Iceland more people apparently seek treatment
because of alcoholism than in other countries because
treatment has been very accessible in certain periods.
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