Prevalence, sociodemographic, and clinical correlates of underweight in a sample of Chinese male alcohol-dependent patients.

Background: Underweight is a significant symptom in alcohol-dependent patients, yet few studies have examined underweight in Chinese male patients. The current study aimed to identify the prevalence, sociodemographic, and clinical correlates of underweight in Chinese male patients with alcohol dependency.

Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 405 male inpatients with alcohol dependence and 383 healthy male controls were recruited. Participants' demographic and clinical data, including anthropometric data, were collected. We first conducted univariate analysis to identify seven variables with significant differences between groups: smoking behavior, hospitalization, alcohol consumption, cerebral infarction, hypertension, Hamilton Depression Scale (HAMD) score, and Scale for Assessment of Negative Symptom (SANS) score. Then, binary logistic regression was used to assess their relationship with underweight, with a significance level of .05.

Results: The prevalence of underweight was significantly higher in the study population than in the control group (2.99% vs. 2.87%; P < .001). Patients with underweight had significantly higher rates of smoking behavior and cerebral infarction, as well as higher scores of SANS and HAMD than non-underweight patients. The non-underweight patients had higher daily alcohol consumption and times of hospitalization. Furthermore, logistic regression analysis showed that smoking behavior [odds ratio (OR) = 2.84, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.03-7.80, P = .043)], cerebral infarction (OR = 5.20, 95% CI = 1.13-23.85, P = .036), SANS score (OR = 1.22, 95% CI = 1.16-1.28, P < .001), and HAMD score (OR = 1.06, 95% CI = 1.02-1.11, P = .005) were associated with underweight.

Conclusions: More than 20% of male alcohol-dependent patients in a Chinese sample were underweight. Some demographic and clinical variables independent correlates for underweight in alcohol-dependent patients. We need to focus on alcohol-dependent patients with smoking, cerebral infarction, depression, and more prominent negative symptoms.