Between 2006 and 2014, the rate of visits to the ER for alcohol-related issues increased by nearly 50 percent – especially among females and middle-aged drinkers, according to a new study conducted by researchers at the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA).
“In just nine years, the number of people transported to the ED [emergency departments] annually for medical emergencies caused or exacerbated by alcohol increased from about 3 million to 5 million,” said NIAAA Director George F. Koob, PhD, in a statement.
“These findings are indicative of the detrimental effects that acute and chronic alcohol misuse have on public health, and the significant burden they place on our healthcare system.”
What’s behind the dramatic increase in alcohol-related ER visits? The study authors say it remains a mystery, in part because the same nine-year period showed a mere 2 percent increase in per capita alcohol consumption and only an 8 percent increase in overall ER visits.
"The lowest hanging fruit in terms of hypotheses is that there must be an increase in risky drinking in some people," study author and neuroscientist Aaron White told NPR.org.
Perhaps the most concerning part of the study was that the increase of chronic alcohol misuse-related visits, such as alcohol withdrawal and alcohol-related cirrhosis of the liver, was primarily driven by females (6.9 percent versus 4.5 percent in men, annually).
“Recent studies suggest that the drinking habits of females and males are becoming more similar in the United States,” said White. “The larger increase in the rate of ED visits among females compared to males provides further evidence of narrowing gender gaps in alcohol use and related harms. This trend is concerning given that females appear to be more susceptible to some of the detrimental health effects of alcohol.” This includes liver damage, heart disease and breast cancer.
According to the NIAAA, women face higher risks than men because:
- Women typically start to have alcohol-related problems at lower drinking levels than men
- Women typically weigh less than men
- Pound for pound, women have less water in their bodies than men do, and alcohol resides predominantly in body water
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