Burden of Alcoholic Liver Disease in a Tertiary Care Center: A Descriptive Cross-sectional Study

Abstract

Introduction: Alcoholic liver disease is a serious health problem related to an unhealthy lifestyle. The three most widely recognized forms of alcoholic liver disease are alcoholic fatty liver, acute alcoholic hepatitis, and alcoholic cirrhosis. The main aim of our study is to find out the prevalence of alcoholic liver disease in tertiary care center.
 Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among inpatient cases admitted in the medicine department of tertiary care center from 1st June 2018 to 31st May 2019. Ethical approval was taken for the study. Convenience sampling method was used. All the biochemical parameters were expressed as mean±standard deviation for each group and point estimate at 95% Confidence Interval was calculated along with frequency and proportion for binary data.
 Results: Prevalence of alcoholic liver disease is 50 (50%) at a 95% Confidence Interval (40.2%-59.8%) and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease is also the same. The mean age of alcoholic liver disease was 59±12 years where as the mean age for non-alcoholic fatty liver disease was 46±18 years. Out of fifty patients of alcoholic liver disease, majority 48 (96%) of the cases were males which suggests that the prevalence of alcoholic liver disease is very common in males. Similarly, for non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, prevalence was 34 (68%) showing higher prevalence than that of females. 
 Conclusions: Prevalence of alcoholic liver disease is low compared to previous studies done in the similar settings. Monitoring these biochemical parameters in alcoholic liver disease at early stage could guide in planning the protocol for the initial treatment.

Alcoholic Liver Disease among Patients Admitted to the Department of Internal Medicine of a Tertiary Care Centre: A Descriptive Cross-sectional Study

“…With regards to the gender-wise distribution of the patients, our study showed that ALD was more predominant in males which is similar to other studies. 3 , 9 Similarly, our study reported that the mean serum values of serum bilirubin levels, AST and ALT were increased in the majority of the cases which held true in other studies as well which could indicate hepatocellular damage. 3 , 10 …”

“… 3 , 9 Similarly, our study reported that the mean serum values of serum bilirubin levels, AST and ALT were increased in the majority of the cases which held true in other studies as well which could indicate hepatocellular damage. 3 , 10 …”

“…Based on our study, the prevalence of alcoholic liver disease among patients presenting to our tertiary care centre was 7.80% among 538 patients admitted to the internal medicine department of the hospital which was low when compared to similar studies done in other tertiary care centres of Nepal. 3,7,8 The mean age of the patients from our study was comparable to these studies. With regards to the gender-wise distribution of the patients, our study showed that ALD was more predominant in males which is similar to other studies.…”

“…The diagnosis of Spontaneous Bacterial Peritonitis (SBP) was established based on positive ascitic fluid bacterial cultures and the detection of an elevated absolute fluid Polymorphonuclear Neutrophil (PMN) count in the ascites (>250/mm 3 ) without an evident intra-abdominal surgically treatable source of infection. 4 Hepatic encephalopathy was diagnosed after proper history and physical examination to identify the cognitive deficits and neuromuscular impairments characteristic of hepatic encephalopathy after exclusion of other causes of mental status changes and evaluation of possible precipitating factors.…”

Material decomposition using iodine quantification on spectral CT for characterising nodules in the cirrhotic liver: a retrospective study

“…al [ 51 ] showed that hepatocarcinogenesis is a time-dependant progression of benign to malignant nodules and this was illustrated in our study, by the presence of regenerative nodules in younger patients with more HCC nodules observed in the older population. Rizal et al [ 52 ] demonstrated that cirrhosis, regardless of aetiology, is more prevalent in men, worldwide. This gender predilection was seen involving all three groups in our study, which was in line with these observations.…”