**5.1 Demographic information**

220 Complementary Pediatrics

(adolescents' own acknowledgment, other testimony, judgment of the pediatric doctor, laboratory values/urine, other), total time of hospitalization (days), hospital intensive care use (days), intravenous fluids (yes/no), and hospitalization aftercare (patient forwarded to

Patient code (control variable consisting of initials of the adolescent, confidential), date of birth (dd-mm-yy), gender, living area (first two numbers of postal code), daily occupation (educational level, work), school performance (normal, repeating of a class, dropout), family situation (traditional, foster parents, living alone), siblings (none, brother[s], sister[s], both), position to siblings (oldest, middle, youngest), cultural background (Dutch, Moroccan, Turkish, Surinamese, Antillean, other), religious background (none, Roman Catholic, Protestant Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, other), and adolescent registration to medical or aid agencies (none, pediatrician, psychologist, other professional, mental

Alcohol use in previous months (average number of units per week day [Monday– Thursday] and average number of units per weekend day [Friday–Sunday]), regular drinking places (parents' home, adolescents' own home, friends' home, on the street, work place, at [a] school [party], public place [sports bar/canteen], commercial place [hotel and catering industry/bar/pub/discotheque], holiday, other), regular (illicit) substance use (none, cannabis, cocaine, amphetamines/speed, magic mushrooms, Ecstasy [3,4 methylenedioxymethamphetamine, or MDMA], other), regular tobacco use (no, yes; if possible, estimated number of cigarettes per week), prescribed medication use (no, yes; if yes, what type of medication/name], and parental knowledge of alcohol use (parents know exactly, parents know approximately, parents believe their adolescent child consumes more

Date of the intoxication, the date of filling in the questionnaire, pediatrician code number,

Over the years, the number of adolescents treated with alcohol intoxication increased, as

Adolescents treated 297 337 500 684 Increase previous year 13% 48% 37% Usable questionnaires (response) 231 288 440 566 Table 1. Number of hospitalized adolescents due to alcohol intoxication in Dutch hospitals

2007 2008 2009 2010

**4.2 General and demographic information about the adolescent** 

health care institution, The Netherlands Youth Institute, other).

**4.3 Patterns of alcohol use and other substance use** 

or less), age of first alcoholic drink.

**4.4 Control variables** 

and the hospital involved.

**5. 2007 – 2010 Results** 

also depicted in Table 1.

any medical or aid agency).

Boys and girls are admitted with alcohol intoxication in about the same percentages (52% male vs. 48% female). However, boys generally have a higher level of blood alcohol concentration (1.87 vs. 1.69 g/L). Intoxicated girls are younger (15.3 vs. 15.7 years) and are hospitalized for shorter periods than boys. Ages range from 11 years up to 17 years, with an average of 15.7 years.

The educational levels of youngsters with alcohol misuse seem to be similar to national statistics. Repeating a study year is not seen more frequently in adolescents with alcohol intoxication. In the Dutch multicultural society, the family structures and cultural and religious backgrounds in this group of patients also correspond with national statistics. The youngest child in the family is more frequently admitted with alcohol abuse (44% youngest child vs. 32% oldest child), children without siblings are relatively uncommon (7% of hospitalized patients have no siblings). These numbers show that adolescent alcohol intoxication occurs in all levels of society, making this pediatric health care issue a difficult but most important subject to deal with.
