Integrating hepatology with addiction care for inpatients with alcohol use disorder reduces future liver-related events.

BACKGROUND

Strategies to identify patients with early alcohol-associated liver disease (ALD), prior to the development of liver-related decompensated events, and promote alcohol therapy engagement in these patients are urgently needed to stem the rising tide of mortality associated with ALD.

METHODS

We compared the rate of incident liver-related decompensating events in hospitalized patients with alcohol use disorder (AUD) seen either by an integrated hepatology and addiction care approach or addiction care alone at 2 academic medical centers. Cox proportional hazards regression model and a Kaplan-Meier analysis were used.

FINDINGS: An integrated approach of hepatology and addiction care is associated with a reduced likelihood of future liver-related decompensating events in hospitalized patients with AUD. This finding correlated with an increased uptake of medical alcohol therapy and a reduced likelihood of an alcohol-associated readmission. Integrated hepatology and addiction care for hospitalized AUD patients may help reduce the progression of ALD.