Alcohol-related hospital admissions are used as a way of understanding the impact of alcohol on the health of a population. The alcohol profile uses 2 methods to measure this:
A measure of hospital admissions where either the primary diagnosis (main reason for admission) or one of the secondary (contributory) diagnoses is an alcohol-related condition.
This represents a Broad measure of alcohol-related admissions but is sensitive to changes in coding practice over time.
A measure of hospital admissions where the primary diagnosis (main reason for admission) is an alcohol-related condition. This represents a Narrower measure. Since every hospital admission must have a primary diagnosis, it’s less sensitive to coding practices but may also understate the part alcohol plays in the admission.
Main findings of the indicator update LAPE Statistical Commentary, March 2023
Latest admissions included in Admissions by cause, February 2024.
The statistics on public health offer a range of information on alcohol use and misuse by adults and children, including hospital admissions, drawn together from a variety of sources for England unless otherwise stated.
