---

Alcoholic Drinks: Misuse

Answer

There are a number of drugs that can be used to treat, or that are used in the treatment, of alcohol dependency. The vast majority of these drugs are used to treat a range of other conditions and data on their use cannot be broken down to show use by disease group, therefore providing this data would be misleading. However, Dusulfiram (Antabuse) and Acamprosate Calcium (Campral EC) are used only in the treatment of alcohol dependency and the following table gives the combined number of prescription items for Dusulfiram (Antabuse) and Acamprosate Calcium (Campral EC) dispensed in the community in England over the last five years.

Number of prescription items for Acamprosate Calcium (Campral EC) and Disulfiram (Antabuse) dispensed in the community in England, 2004-08
	Items
2004	110,057
2005	109,170
2006	115,924
2007	122,828
2008	134,477
Note:
Prescriptions are written on a prescription form. Each single item written on the form is counted as a prescription item.

The information on the number of men and women diagnosed as alcohol-dependent is not collected centrally and information on the proportion of men and women diagnosed as alcohol-dependent is not available in the format requested.Information on the proportion of men and women in England who showed 'any dependence' on alcohol is available for 2000 and 2007 as part of the NHS Information Centre for health and social care report "Adult Psychiatric Morbidity in England, 2007". However, data on alcohol dependence is available for the following age groups 16 to 24, 25 to 34, 35 to 44, 45 to 54, 55 to 64, 65 to 74, and not the age groups requested.This report provides useful trend data, comparing 2007 with 2000, however it is important to note that it uses a definition of 'any dependence', which will have included a number of people with mild dependence who either did not require intensive specialised treatment or whose dependence would resolve without any intervention.Epidemiological analysis of alcohol dependence by independent academics, including that provided in the Alcohol Needs Assessment Research Project (ANARP) commissioned from St. George's university in 2004, included use of a different methodology for estimating the most clinically relevant level of alcohol dependence in the population, taking into account the reliability and robustness of using the cut-off chosen in their study.The cut-off used in the ANARP study, for example, was used to identify either moderately or severely dependent drinkers, as opposed to the identification of "any dependence" used for the "Adult Psychiatric Morbidity in England, 2007" report sample.ANARP conducted their research over a period of six months between September 2004 and February 2005, and found an overall prevalence figure for alcohol dependence of 3.6 per cent. in those aged between 16 and 64, which equated to 1.1 million people with alcohol dependence for England.The "Adult Psychiatric Morbidity in England, 2007" report, shows the proportion of men and women, by age, who showed any dependence on alcohol in 2000 and 2007. A copy of the "Adult Psychiatric Morbidity in England, 2007" report has been placed in the Library.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

496 c1562-3W; 283739

Session

2008-09

Subjects

Alcoholic drinks Misuse

Contains statistics

Yes

Link

View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk