The burden of alcoholism in fifteen years of cirrhosis hospital admissions in Portugal

摘要

Background & AimsDeploying a longitudinal perspective, we observe how cirrhosis caused mortality rates in Portugal are converging with the levels reported in the European Union (15 countries). However, we still lack analysis of the burden of alcoholic cirrhosis in terms of hospital admissions and associated mortality. As Portugal may be considered a paradigmatic case in Europe, our aim was to characterize the evolution of hospital admissions for alcoholic cirrhosis between 1993 and 2008 and draw conclusions for other countries.