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SUMMARY: BACKGROUND This study sought to identify demographic characteristics of hospitalized patients with alcoholic liver disease (ALD) in Los Angeles County for the purpose of implementing new preventive and educational programs. Another specific aim of the study was to characterize demographic and comorbid differences between patients with ALD and patients with pancreatitis, another alcohol-related disease.METHODS Analyses were performed on discharge data from all nonfederal short-stay hospitals within Los Angeles County, released for the year 1999 by the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development. Repeated hospital stays for ALD by the same patients were deleted from the data analysis based on individual identification numbers. For the analysis of medical costs of ALD, repeated hospital stays were included.RESULTS Primary diagnosis of ALD accounted for 1.2% of total deaths among hospitalized patients and was the eighth most common cause of death among diseases examined. Moreover, the fatality rate of primary ALD among ALD hospital visits was the second highest, behind septicemia. ALD was most prevalent in the middle-aged (45-65 years old) and low- to middle-income men. The age-standardized hospitalization rate of ALD was highest in Hispanic men (61.1 per 100,000 per year), whereas that of chronic pancreatitis, another common complication of alcohol abuse, was most prevalent in African American men.CONCLUSIONS Middle-aged Hispanic men with low- to middle-income status were identified as a high-risk group for ALD in Los Angeles County. These data will guide us to develop a new strategy for future preventative and educational programs for ALD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]