Citation

Green A, Neff D, Giuliano G, Lee N, Turchin R, Kunkel EJS. Psychosomatics 2018; 59(4): 349-357.

Affiliation

The Milton S. Hershey Penn State University School of Medicine, The Joyce D. Kales University Chair in Community Psychiatry, Hershey, PA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2018, Academy of Psychosomatic Medicine, Publisher Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.psym.2018.01.001

PMID

29449024

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Diagnosis and treatment of alcohol use disorders and their sequelae are common clinical questions for the consultation-liaison psychiatrist. At an urban, academic medical center, the authors consulted on several patients whose consumption of alcohol included nonbeverage forms of alcohol, (described in the literature as surrogate alcohols, nonbeverage alcohols, e.g., mouthwash).

METHODS: The authors describe 4 patients who presented with surrogate alcohol consumption. The authors review the clinical issues and literature related to surrogate alcohol use. The authors describe the array of substances, which either contain ethanol, but are not intended for drinking, or which contain other intoxicating alcohols (e.g., methanol), that are consumed in lieu of traditional beverage alcohol. Furthermore, the authors discuss standard medical treatment interventions for ethanol and non-ethanol based alcohols. The authors propose a screening tool, the surrogate alcohol questionnaire, a tool to facilitate better recognition of surrogate alcohol use.

Copyright © 2018 The Academy of Psychosomatic Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Language: en

Keywords

Alcohol use disorder; Surrogate Alcohol Questionnaire; Surrogate alcohol; Unreported alcohol