MD., FRCPsych., DPM., Consultant, Psychiatrist, Barnet Psychiatric Unit, Wellhouse Lane Barnet, Herts EN5 3DJ.
Indian J Psychiatry. 1997 Oct;39(4):300-3.
Out of 881 randomly selected outpatients in four rural district hospitals in Kenya who underwent a two stage screening procedure for a psychiatric disorder, 24.9 percent had psychiatric morbidity. Further analysis showed that 12.7 percent of them had an alcohol related disorder as defined by ICD-9 (WHO, 1978) under the categories 291 and 303. For the screening of alcoholic cases brief MAST was used. The author found this instrument a quick method for identifying potential alcoholics.At present, such cases go undetected and untreated. Some important issues related to alcohol drinking in rural Kenya are discussed. Most of our patients drank the locally brewed alcoholic beverages of variable ethanol contents. The health planners and primary health workers (PHW) will have to pay more attention to the widely prevalent alcohol abuse which seems to masquerade in various forms of physical, social or psychological problems. Indeed, more intensive training of the PHWs in detecting and advising alcoholics maybe the best method in the rural setting.
在肯尼亚四个农村地区医院的 881 名随机选择的门诊患者中，有 24.9%的人患有精神障碍。进一步分析表明，根据 ICD-9（世界卫生组织，1978 年）的 291 和 303 类别，其中 12.7%的人患有与酒精有关的疾病。为了筛选酒精病例，简要 MAST 被使用。作者发现这种仪器是识别潜在酗酒者的快速方法。目前，这些病例未被发现和治疗。本文讨论了与肯尼亚农村地区饮酒相关的一些重要问题。我们的大多数患者都饮用了当地酿造的、酒精含量不同的酒精饮料。卫生规划人员和初级卫生工作者（PHW）将不得不更加关注广泛存在的酒精滥用问题，这些问题似乎以各种形式的身体、社会或心理问题为伪装。事实上，在农村地区，对 PHW 进行更深入的酗酒者检测和咨询培训可能是最好的方法。
