Citation

Schandler SL, Cohen MJ, Vulpe M, Frank SE. J. Stud. Alcohol 1995; 56(5): 522-527.

Affiliation

Addiction Research Laboratory, Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Long Beach, California 90822, USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1995, Rutgers Center of Alcohol Studies)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

7475032

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: Of the many factors that affect the occurrence of and rehabilitation from spinal cord injury, alcohol use and abuse are particularly prominent. Persons with a family history of alcoholism are at greater risk for alcohol abuse and alcoholism. Preliminary data show a much higher than normal proportion of these persons in the spinal cord injured population. If these data are reliable, they may show that family history of alcoholism is a premorbid or comorbid factor to the occurrence of accidents that results in catastrophic injuries. Our investigation represented an evaluation of this premise. METHOD: Male volunteer subjects (N = 100) were selected from inpatient and outpatient populations of a Veterans Affairs spinal cord injury service. Subjects received a comprehensive interview and completed two standardized questionnaires and a general information form designed to evaluate their past and present use of alcohol and the use of alcohol by their parents and relatives. RESULTS: The incidence (45%) of spinal cord injured patients with a family history of alcoholism was over four times that found in the general population. Spinal cord injured subjects with a family history of alcoholism reported significantly more problems with alcohol before, at the time of, and after their injury. CONCLUSIONS: The data suggest a relationship between the predisposition to alcoholism and accidents that result in catastrophic injury.

Language: en