Mortality Experience of Alcoholics

Abstract

The 2- to 5-year mortality experience of 1,692 alcoholics (1,431 men, 261 women) treated in 4 California facilities is described on the basis of a follow-up study and death record analysis. During the 5-year period 1954-58, 124 verified deaths (107 men, 17 women) occurred among the 1,692 subjects. The average annual death rate among the alcoholics, 26 per 1,000, was nearly 2.5 times the normal rate (11 per 1,000). The age-adjusted 5-year survival rate of the alcoholics was 91% of normal, demonstrating that alcoholics do not live as long as persons in the general population. The most frequent causes of death were violence (24%; 26 men, 4 women); heart disease (23%; 25 men, 4 women); and cirrhosis of the liver (14%; 11 men, 6 women). The same causes accounted for 9, 40 and 3% respectively, of the total California adult deaths during the study period. The differences in cause of death in the 2 groups could be explained in part by the slightly younger age and by the presence of complications commonly associated with alcoholism (e.g., cirrhosis of the liver) in the alcoholic group. There was no significant difference from the general population in the specific mortality rates by sex, race, marital status, education, religion, occupation, and health status at a prior field interview. Age-specific rates, however, showed that the proportion of deaths among the older alcoholics was significantly larger than among the younger ones.