Comorbidity of Phobic Disorders with Alcoholism in a Canadian Community Sample

Abstract

French

Objectives:

To examine the relation between phobic disorders and alcoholism in a Canadian community sample.

Method:

Data came from the Mental Health Supplement of the Ontario Health Survey. The University of Michigan revision of the Composite International Diagnostic Interview (UM-CIDI) was used to diagnose DSM-III-R psychiatric disorders in 8116 Canadian respondents between ages 15 and 64 years. Since the cross-system agreement (ICD-10 and DSM-III-R or DSM-IV) on the diagnosis of alcohol abuse is much lower than that for alcohol dependence, we also examined a WHO category, “hazardous alcohol use.” Logistic regression controlling for age and sex was used to determine odds ratios (ORs) for phobic disorders and alcohol-use diagnoses.

Results:

Individuals with lifetime alcohol abuse or dependence had two- to threefold increased odds of having a phobic disorder. Simple phobia and social phobia with multiple fears were significantly associated (ORs 1.5 to 2) with hazardous alcohol use (which had a prevalence of approximately 10%).

Conclusions:

Given the early onset of most phobic disorders, the findings suggest that these are a risk factor for hazardous patterns of alcohol use.

Objectifs:

Examiner la relation entre les troubles phobiques et l'alcoolisme dans un échantillon communautaire canadien.

Keywords

comorbidity phobia anxiety alcoholism Ontario Health Survey alcohol abuse epidemiology

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