Background and objective: The aim of the study was to determine how many inpatient treatments are attributable to tobacco smoking or alcohol risk-drinking in a high tobacco smoking and alcohol per capital consumption country.
Patients and methods: Relative mortality risks from international studies, inpatient diagnoses in the year 1997 (n = 12,803,729), rates of tobacco smokers and alcohol risk drinkers from Germany (microcensus 1995, n = 169,403; German National Health Survey 1990/1991, n = 7450) were the data base.
Results: Of all inpatient treatment cases in the year 1997, 9.9 % (n = 1,273,651) were tobacco- or alcohol-attributable. The inpatient stays took 1.5 days more than those who were not tobacco- or alcohol-attributable.
Conclusion: It is concluded that early detection and early intervention are needed for the decrease of the number of inpatient treatments.