Association between inpatient AUDIT-C alcohol screening scores and postoperative outcomes: a retrospective cohort study.
At-risk alcohol use not associated with worse 30-day postoperative outcomes
Association between inpatient AUDIT-C alcohol screening scores and postoperative outcomes: a retrospective cohort study.
To evaluate whether alcohol use severity, as measured by the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test-Consumption (Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test-Consumption), is associated with postoperative complications, hospital utilisation and opioid prescribing among adult surgical inpatients.
With Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test-Consumption scores of 0 were described in the cohort but excluded from the primary comparative analyses to account for potential J-shaped associations between abstinence and health outcomes.
at-risk drinkers had no higher rate of complications, ED visits, readmission or death
A total of 805 (8.4%) of screened patients reported at-risk alcohol use.
Multivariable logistic regression confirmed no association between Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test-Consumption category and the primary composite outcome (average marginal effect 0.01, 95% CI -0.02 to 0.03).
Median hospital length of stay differed slightly between groups (3.0 days (IQR 4.0) vs 3.0 days (IQR 5.0); p=0.01).
Opioid prescribing at discharge was similar across groups (58.4% vs 58.9%, p=0.763).
In this real-world surgical cohort, observed Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test-Consumption risk category among patients who completed screening was not significantly associated with short-term postoperative outcomes or opioid prescribing.
While small differences in length of stay reached statistical significance, their clinical relevance is uncertain.
Limitations include limited number of at-risk patients, non-response bias and the absence of standardised follow-up for at-risk patients, which may have contributed to null findings.