Physician utilization and illness patterns in families of alcoholics.

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Abstract
The physician utilization and diagnosis rates of 90 nonalcoholic family practice clinic patients who were members of intact nuclear families including an alcoholic were compared with those of matched controls from families not incuding an alcoholic. The utilization and diagnosis rates were determined by dividing the total number of visits (or diagnoses) by the time between the 1st and last visits. Members of alcoholic families had significantly higher utilization and diagnosis rates than did controls. Members of alcoholic families made 9.7 visits to a physician/yr compared wth 6.5 for controls (P < 0.001), and the number of distinct diagnoses/yr (based on the categories of the International Classification of Health Problems in Primary Care) were 6.3 and 4.5, respectively (P < 0.01). These differences were found only among women. Members of alcoholic families also had a distinctive profile of types of diagnoses, with higher proportions of diagnoses of trauma and stress-related diseases. The effects of alcoholism on the health of family members as well as on the alcoholic should be considered in treatment planning.

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