WEDNESDAY, May 13, 2026 (NewsDay News) – Within the Veterans Health Administration (VHA), 30 percent of hospitalizations for alcohol use disorder (AUD) cause AUD medication (MAUD) as an inpatient or within seven days of discharge, according to a study published online May 5. Annals of internal diseases.
Timothy S. Anderson, MD, of the University of Pittsburgh and colleagues conducted a retrospective cohort study of veterans with an initial diagnosis of AUD hospitalized in 2022 or 2023. Data on 29,041 hospitalizations for AUD in veterans without MAUD hospitalizations were included.
The researchers found that MAUD started as an inpatient or within seven days in 8,932 hospitals (30.8 percent). MAUDs were naltrexone, acamprosate, and injectable naltrexone (57.9, 16.5, and 13.9 percent, respectively). Overall, 69.6 percent of MAUD initiations were during an inpatient stay, and the rest were within seven days. Almost all (97.7 percent) of the 6,221 inpatients had a prescription for an MAUD within 30 days of discharge. In adjusted analyses, MAUD onset was more likely for inpatients with substance abuse counseling and for those receiving psychiatry and medical services. Onset of MAUD was lower among those age 65 and older, men, American Indians or Alaska Natives versus white veterans, frail veterans, those with opioid use disorders, and those diagnosed in the intensive care unit. The median hospital-level MAUD rate was 29.9 percent.
“These findings highlight the need for further investigation into the factors that contribute to variation in hospitalization rates that can inform health system and quality improvement efforts to equitably scale up the MAUD initiative,” the authors wrote.
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