Australian Family Physician, the flagship journal of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP), features a range of clinical, viewpoint and research articles focusing on key issues in general practice today.
The theme for the August edition of AFP is Current issues in alcohol and includes the following feature articles:
Binge drinking
Janice Charles, Lisa Valenti, Graeme Miller
'Binge' drinking is defined as episodic excessive drinking, but there is no worldwide consensus on how many drinks constitute a ‘binge'. BEACH (Bettering the Evaluation and Care of Health) used three questions from the World Health Organization's Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) to gather information on alcohol consumption of patients aged 18 years or over from a subsample (40%) of participants. We defined regular binge drinkers as those who have six or more standard drinks on one occasion, either weekly or monthly.
Problem drinking – detection and assessment in general practice
Apo Demirkol, Paul Haber, Katherine Conigrave
Alcohol has long been an integral part of the social life of many Australians. However, alcohol is associated with significant harm to drinkers, and also to nondrinkers.
Problem drinking – management in general practice
Apo Demirkol, Katherine Conigrave, Paul Haber
Management of problem drinking presents the general practitioner with similar challenges and rewards to those associated with the management of other chronic conditions.
Risky drinking among young Australians – causes, effects and implications for GPs
Amy Pennay, Dan I Lubman, Sarah MacLean
Rates of risky drinking among young Australians have increased substantially over the past 2 decades, resulting in significant community concern.
Alcoholic liver disease – assessment and management
Anne E Duggan, John M Duggan
Alcohol is a major cause of liver disease in Australia and the incidence of end stage liver disease among young adult Australians is rising.
All articles are available to read online at www.racgp.org.au/afp.
