La consommation excessive d'alcool : un lourd fardeau pour l'entourage

One out of five participants having in their close environment a person consuming excessive amount of alcohol reported an important burden. The association between the individuals' alcohol intake and the level of burden for natural caregivers was mainly influenced by social, behavioral and medical consequences of alcohol consumption and by the physical and affective proximity between them. Furthermore, we found that the AUDIT-C scores could define alcohol consumers' profiles which form a continuum in terms of the level of burden, even after adjustments for potentially confounding variables. At last, the high prevalence of psychological complications in participants calls for greater recognition of the natural caregivers' burden in the management of patients with alcohol dependence.