How Common Are Hospitalizations Involving Alcohol Withdrawal?

Alcohol withdrawal is a potentially deadly complication of alcohol use disorder, yet knowledge of its epidemiology related to hospitalization is limited. In this study, researchers identified a primary care cohort of ≈500,000 patients seen between 2018 and 2022 in the Kaiser Permanente Washington health system and determined the incidence of hospitalization involving alcohol withdrawal and associated patient characteristics. Nearly 85% of patients were screened for alcohol use in primary care visits using a standardized questionnaire (AUDIT-C).

Among ≈100,000 hospitalizations, alcohol withdrawal was a primary or secondary diagnosis in 2.3%. Incidence of inpatient alcohol withdrawal as a proportion of all-cause hospitalizations was highest am…