National health services are facing an increased burden of alcohol-related problems. Between 2019–2020, 280,000 hospital admissions were attributable to alcohol use (1). This was 2% higher than 2018–2019, and 8% higher than 2016–2017. The UK Government has taken some action by recommending a maximum weekly alcohol consumption limit in units; however it is unclear whether psychiatrists are aware of these recommendations. It can often be difficult to calculate accurately the units of alcohol consumed, due to differences in the alcohol concentration of apparently similar drinks (3). The aim of this online survey was to assess junior doctors’ knowledge and their understanding of alcohol unit conversions.

This was a cross-sectional study, administered via an online questionnaire. We invited junior and middle grade doctors working in Psychiatric Inpatient Units and CMHTs in the North Wales region via e-mail. We have used the same questionnaire that was used in previous studies. The questionnaire captured respondents’ training level, their current alcohol consumption and perception about their knowledge of alcohol unit conversions, as well as assessing their knowledge about alcohol unit conversions using four test scenarios. The data were gathered using the Microsoft office forms (online) and analysed descriptively (i.e., frequency and percentage) using Microsoft Excel.

Twenty-three medical doctors working in Psychiatry completed the online questionnaire, of which the majority were junior doctors (n = 15; 65%). Almost three-quarters of the respondents (n = 17; 74%) reported regular consumption of alcohol. The majority of respondents (n = 20; 86%) reported that they had knowledge of alcohol units.

Nearly half of the respondents were able to calculate correct daily allowance of alcohol in units for males (n = 13; 56%) and for female (n = 12; 52%). Twelve respondents were able to calculate the correct allowance in units for both genders. About one quarter of the respondents (n = 5; 22%) mentioned weekly limits instead of daily limits of alcohol in units.

In response to test scenarios, seven respondents (30%) were able to correctly calculate 9 units of alcohol in a 750ml bottle of 12% wine. Ten respondents (43%) were able to correctly calculate 30 units in the bottle of whiskey. For the lager scenario, the volume was given in pints, and only one respondent was able to calculate 47.6 units correctly. For a wine (36.4 units) and sherry (12 units), only 6 (26%) and 4 (17%) respondents answered correctly, respectively.

We found that medical doctors working in psychiatry do not have adequate knowledge of alcohol unit conversions. To tackle the increasing burden of alcohol-related problems, learning about alcohol unit conversions should be incorporated into teaching programmes for psychiatry practitioners.