This past October at the AMNET XIV International Conference in Asuncion, Paraguay, AUA alumnus Steven Char — currently in the FIU graduate certificate program — presented his study entitled “The Association between Alcohol Use Disorder and In-hospital Mortality among Stroke Patients discharged in the State of Florida.”

Nicole Lopez Perez, Eliea Sneij, Noël Barengo M.D., and Juan Carlos Zevallos M.D were members of Steven’s study and presentation team.

One out of ten working adults or approximately 88,000 Americans die yearly of Alcohol Use Disorder (commonly referred to as AUD), and stroke is the fourth leading cause of death in the state of Florida. Previous observational studies and systematic reviews had shown that increased alcohol consumption lead to increased risk of hemorrhagic strokes. Steven’s objective was to further analyze the association between the two.

Utilizing the AHCA Florida Stroke Registry from 2008-2012 and with access to a large sample size of over 300,000, the study team concluded individuals suffering from hemorrhagic strokes with a history of AUD are indeed at considerably higher odds of in-hospital mortality, as compared to other stroke types and no alcohol exposure.

From this, Steven and his team made some recommendations that included advocating new public policies in raising awareness of AUD, and the importance of assessing alcohol history among stroke patients at hospital admission.

Congratulations to Steven, Nicole, Eliea, Noël, and Juan on the success of their study and presentation!