Sobering fact: Castle Peak Hospital Consultant Dr Leung Shung-pun says Hong Kong's success rate for reforming alcoholics is 40% to 50%, in line with other advanced countries.

About half of alcoholics can quit drinking after treatment, but preventing relapses poses a great challenge to healthcare workers. The Tuen Mun Alcohol Problems Clinic has adopted a new course of therapy to help cut the relapse rate.

The clinic, launched in September 1996, helps abusers manage their troubles, which include physical, psychological, marital, job and family issues. It is the first service of its kind in Hong Kong and referrals are accepted citywide. It includes physical and psychiatric assessment, detoxification and counselling, treatment of co-existing psychological and psychiatric problems, and referral service to other medical specialties if necessary.

In an interview with news.gov.hk, Castle Peak Hospital Consultant Dr Leung Shung-pun said most patients are men aged 40 to 50, with a drinking history of about 20 years. They commonly have financial, family or work problems and use alcohol to handle stress.

Although most people feel drinking is not a serious problem, the number of patients handled by the clinic has risen steadily, from 248 in 2003-04 (including 55 new cases) to 307 in 2004-05 (84 new cases), and 369 in 2005-06 (93 new cases).

Relapse challenge

Dr Leung said the success rate for reforming alcoholics is 40% to 50%, in line with other advanced countries. Treatment can be very successful, however, preventing relapses is a great challenge.

Patient psychology is a big factor in ensuring prevention. Cognitive Behavioural Therapy has been adopted to help patients overcome negative thoughts and behaviour. Social and job seeking skills are also taught to help them comfortably return to the community.

As part of its after-treatment service, patients are asked to return to the clinic for assessment, after successful completion the detoxification programme. Normally the assessment period is two years.

Dr Leung said as most people underestimate the amount they drink, one way to check on it is to keep a diary of their alcohol consumption over a week. It gives a clearer idea of whether one is drinking too much and identifies situations were people drink more.

Reduction target

When receiving treatment, the patient will be given a target level of alcohol reduction, with total abstinence the ultimate goal. However, if this cannot be done, controlled drinking is an alternative.

There are no known safe limits for drinking as some drinks are stronger than others. The easiest way to measure the amount of drinking is to count units of alcohol, such as a can of normal-strength beer which is 1.5 units. The safe limit for men is 21 units (14 cans) per week, and for women is 14 units (nine cans) per week.

The clinic mainly serves the western New Territories, and is situated at 13 Tsing Chung Koon Road, Tuen Mun. It operates 9am to 1pm Monday to Friday. For enquiries call 2456 8260 or page 7308 1108. Paging service hours are Monday to Friday 9am to 7pm, and Saturday 9am to 2pm.