Drinking patterns over the course of a lifetime are very important for the development of alcohol problems and chronic diseases. In order to help examine these patterns, we developed a computer-assisted personal interview, the Cognitive Lifetime Drinking History (CLDH). The CLDH was used at the Center for Clinical and Medical Epidemiology of Alcohol from 1994 to 1999 in studies of alcohol consumption over time among different groups, including a healthy community sample, people with chronic disease, and alcoholics -- both treated and untreated. We will now use newly developed software that summarizes CLDH data, creating profiles of lifetime drinking patterns. Studies comparing profiles of people with and without chronic diseases will provide data for the first time on the relation of lifetime drinking patterns to long-term health outcomes. The majority of alcoholics never seek treatment. Although many eventually recover, the processes and consequences involved are poorly understood. The proposed studies in treated and untreated alcoholics have the potential to aid in assessing unmet needs for treatment, in determining which problem drinkers are likely to benefit from brief interventions, and in identifying factors influencing treatment entry.

 

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