Epilepsy Clinic

Alcohol treatment figures increasing

The number of people seeking treatment for problem alcohol use in Ireland is on the increase, according to a new report.

Preliminary figures released today show that a total of 16,020 cases aged between 15 and 64 years were treated for problem alcohol use in Ireland between 2004 and 2006.

The number of new cases treated for alcohol as their main problem drug has risen by 21% from 2,827 in 2004 to 3,432 in 2006, according to the report form the Health Research Board (HRB).

The number of cases who returned for treatment also increased, but to a lesser extent, from 2,029 cases in 2004 to 2,110 in 2006.

The HRB points out that the number of cases that return for treatment are an indirect indication of chronic alcohol use.

According to Dr Jean Long of the HRB, the increase in numbers could be explained by an increase in problematic alcohol use in the population, an increase in the number of service providers reporting treated cases to the National Drug Treatment Reporting Systems, or a combination of these factors.

More than one-in-five treated alcohol cases reported that they had also used other drugs, highlighting the association between alcohol and other recreational drugs.

In 2004, the top three additional drugs used were cannabis, followed by ecstasy and then cocaine.

In 2005 and 2006, the rank order changed, with cocaine ranked second and ecstasy third.

The HRB points out that the figures it issued today are preliminary and the statistics are an underestimate of the true extent of treated alcohol use in Ireland and reflect the degree of participation in the reporting system by treatment services, rather than the actual levels of treatment required, or indeed provided by any one region.

The latest statistics indicate that there is an association between socio-economic status and problem alcohol use. Only 44% of new treatment cases reported were in employment.