Hospitalization for alcohol issues soars in north

The rate of hospitalizations for alcohol-related issues, such as alcohol poisoning, injuries suffered while intoxicated and liver disease, is more than five times higher in northern Saskatchewan than the country as a whole.

According to data released by the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) this week, the rate of hospitalizations entirely caused by alcohol was 239 instances per 100,000 people in Canada in 2015.

The northeast health region of Mamawetan Churchill River — which includes La Ronge, Creighton, Pinehouse, Sandy Bay and Weyakwin — had a rate of 1,474 hospitalizations per 100,000 people during the same period. The northern health region of Athabasca — which includes the communities of Black Lake, Fond du Lac, Stony Rapids, Uranium City and Camsell Portage — had a rate of 1,397 hospitalizations per 100,000 people and the northwest health region of Keewatin Yatthe — which encompasses La Loche, Buffalo Narrows, Ile a la Crosse and Beauval — had a rate of 1,245 per 100,000 people.

James Irvine, medical health officer for Northern Medical Services, said northern Saskatchewan is aware alcohol is a problem and people are continually working to reduce its negative affects within communities.

For example, the Mamawetan Churchill River is identifying individuals who are frequent flyers in emergency rooms and hospitals and providing them assistance so they can lead more stable lives. A northern alcohol strategy for La Ronge lays out options to reduce effects of alcohol in the area.

Northern communities are also doing work on health promotion and responsible alcohol consumption, Irvine said.

And higher alcohol consumption may not be the only factor driving up rates of hospitalization for alcohol-related reasons, Irvine said; health care workers are more likely to admit people to hospital if they have travelled great distances to the hospital or if they don’t have strong support systems in place. Both scenarios are more common in northern communities.

This is the first year CIHI has reported data on hospitalizations entirely caused by alcohol and so it is not yet possible to see how those rates have changed over time.

Kira Leeb, CIHI’s director of health system performance, said reporting the data is the first step toward action. “When we put these kinds of numbers related to hospitalizations in front of people, it will send a message of: Maybe we need to take a look at this and focus a little bit more on policy-related issues, stronger prevention for kids getting access to alcohol, all those sorts of things.”

Unsurprisingly for a province that leads the country in drunk driving charges, Saskatchewan’s rate of hospitalization for alcoholrelated issues was higher than the national average and behind only the territories and British Columbia. In 2015, the rate of hospitalizations entirely caused by alcohol in Saskatchewan was 345 per 100,000 people.

It was 1,315 per 100,000 people in the Northwest Territories, 676 per 100,000 people in the Yukon, 421 per 100,000 people in Nunavut and 349 per 100,000 people in British Columbia.

New Brunswick and Quebec had the lowest rates of hospitalization due to alcohol at 172 and 183 instances per 100,000 people respectively.

In all provinces, men were more likely than women to be hospitalized for alcohol-related ailments.

Within Saskatchewan, only the Saskatoon and Five Hills health authorities had hospitalization rates below the national average. In Saskatoon, the rate was 193 per 100,000 people and in the southern region of Five Hills it was 222 per 100,000 people.

Tracy Muggli, director of mental health and addictions for the Saskatoon Health Region, said she was “pleasantly surprised” to hear Saskatoon’s relatively low numbers and attributed that to work the health region has done build relationships with groups such as the police, Saskatoon Tribal Council and the Lighthouse.

People in the city who struggle with alcoholism can also check themselves into the brief and social detox units to get help. Those who are severely ill will be hospitalized, but Muggli said that’s not the norm.