NCJ Number
127710
Date Published
1990
Length
30 pages
Annotation
Information from insurance claims filed by all group subscribers of Independence Blue Cross during 1984-86 formed the basis of an analysis of the impact of parental alcoholism on children's health and on the health care system in the United States.
Abstract
The 1.6 million subscribers lived mainly in southeastern Pennsylvania, southern New Jersey, and northern Delaware and are socioeconomically diverse. Findings showed that children of alcoholics go to the hospital at a greater rate and stay longer than other children, using hospital days at an almost two-thirds greater rate and home health services at twice the rate of other children. Overall, their health care costs 32 percent more than that of children of nonalcoholic families. Their rate of inpatient admissions for substance abuse was nearly triple that of other children. Results indicated that children of alcoholics should be informed about the effects of parental alcoholism and told how to get help for themselves and that insurers and employee assistance programs should provide direct services for children of alcoholics. Tables, 47 references, and appended list of diagnoses and related information