Methodological approaches to identifying markers of alcohol abuse in employees according to medical examination

Introduction. The diagnosis and appointment of adequate therapy for both alcohol dependence syndrome and somatic pathology of alcoholic origin often depends on the timely establishment of the fact of alcohol abuse, for example, during periodic medical examinations, since most patients either deny the use of alcohol, or significantly underestimate its amount.

The aim of the study is to develop a methodology for the objective identification of individuals with risk factors for harmful alcohol consumption that contribute to the development of pathological conditions and diseases that increase the likelihood of developing chronic non-communicable diseases.

Materials and methods. Within the framework of the study, 204 people (162 men, 42 women) working in various types of economic activities, aged from 18 to 65 years, were surveyed. All patients were sent to the clinic FSBSI "Izmerov Research Institute оf Occupational Health" to pre-or periodic inspections in the order of the health Ministry of Russia from 12.04.2011 No. 302n (ed. by 18.05.2020). All the examined patients underwent a biochemical blood test: carbohydrate deficient transferrin (CDT), gamma-glutamyltranspeptidase (GGT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT). Also, all the surveyed were conducted a questionnaire aimed at identifying alcoholism. Statistical processing of the obtained results was carried out using the program STATISTICA 13.2 (Stat Soft Inc., USA).

Results. The study of the CDT content in the blood serum of the examined patients revealed an increase above the reference values in 10%, while 7% of the examined patients regularly consumed alcohol during the last 2 weeks (CDT≥2.5%), 3% — consumed moderately (CDT1,2–2,4%). The correlation analysis showed a moderate positive correlation between the results of the questionnaire and the CDT content in the blood serum (r=0.24, p=0.002 with the question about the use of 6 or more doses at a time and r=0.30, p=0.0001 with the total score).

Conclusion. The most informative marker of chronic alcohol use is the definition of CDT in combination with a questionnaire aimed at identifying alcoholism. The use of these markers during periodic and preliminary medical examinations can allow a high degree of confidence to identify persons who are prone to chronic alcohol consumption in order to carry out preventive measures and prevent them from working with various sources of increased danger, including work related to the management of vehicles.

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