Most Postdisaster Alcohol Abuse Reflects Preexisting Problem

More than 80 percent of alcohol problems that occur following disasters are among people with a preexisting or ongoing drinking problem, Internal Medicine News reported Oct. 4.

Researchers at the VA North Texas Health Care System examined data from 10 disaster studies and identified nearly 700 survivors who had undergone both pre- and post-disaster alcohol assessments. All subjects had been directly affected by the disaster: More than one-third had been injured, and 20 percent had disaster-related post-traumatic stress disorder.

The researchers found that 83 percent of survivors who drank after the disaster had a prior alcohol use disorder, while only 0.3 percent of those without a predisaster drinking problem developed an alcohol use disorder. Overall, survivors with a prior drinking problem were four times more likely than those without to turn to alcohol to cope with feelings related to the disaster.

“The preexisting nature of most post-disaster alcohol problems identified in this study would suggest that efforts to identify alcohol problems after disasters should focus on those with preexisting problems,” the authors concluded.

The study was published online Oct. 4 in the Archives of General Psychiatry.