THE CONSULTANT at the head of Scotland's first in-depth survey of drinking habits has warned that the focus on teenage binge drinkers is a "red herring" after researchers found that most people admitted to hospital emergency units with alcohol problems were actually in their 20s.

The survey also revealed that alcohol is involved in more than one in 10 admissions to casualty units in Scottish hospitals, but researchers warned that the true figure is much higher.

Health watchdog NHS Quality Improvement Scotland (NHS QIS) carried out research to try to quantify for the first time the impact of the binge-drinking culture on accident and emergency departments.

The audit, carried out at 15 casualty units across the country, found that 11% of all attendances involved alcohol, a figure which, the report suggests, "underestimates" the true scale of the problem.

Just over half of those who turned up for treatment related to alcohol problems had been involved in some form of accident and almost a quarter had to seek medical help for being too drunk. Nearly a third had to be admitted to hospital subsequently.

Despite concerns over teenage binge-drinking, most alcohol-related attendances were in men and women aged between 20 and 29 years old.

The survey comes as the Scottish Executive prepares to publish its updated alcohol action plan on tackling the harm caused by excessive drinking. Earlier this month, it was revealed that council and health officials in Glasgow were discussing setting up mobile medical units, which could give first-aid to late-night revellers and help ease pressure on overstretched hospitals.

Dr Bill Morrison, an A&E consultant at Ninewells Hospital in Dundee, who chaired the NHS QIS Scottish Emergency Department Alcohol Audit, said the survey was the most complete to date, even if the figures were likely to be under-reported.

"As soon as A&E departments get busy, you're getting on with the business in hand, rather than filling in bits of paper," he said. "I can say from personal experience that on Friday and Saturday nights, you can be seeing 80% of problems which are alcohol-related."

He also pointed out that the focus on teenage binge-drinking was "a bit of a red herring", with relatively few people of that age ending up in casualty departments because of alcohol. "We don't want to ignore that, but we do have a bigger problem in the age groups in the 20s and 30s and onwards," he said.

The research found that the majority of those who turned up at casualty units due to alcohol - 71% - are men. However, Dr Jennifer Devine, an associate specialist in emergency medicine at Stobhill Hospital in Glasgow, warned that alcohol-related attendances were now becoming more common among women.

"We have certainly noticed it being much more of a problem with women over the past five years or so," she said. "Once upon a time it used to a male phenomenon, with very few women, but now it is increasingly common among women."

Jack Law, chief executive of Alcohol Focus Scotland, said that the survey showed "how far we have to go" in changing Scotland's drinking culture.

"An increasing number of people are binge drinking to the extent that they are posing a danger to themselves and others," he said. "Drunk people are particularly difficult to deal with in hospital and can become aggressive and violent, affecting staff and other A&E patients."

The NHS QIS report found that out of 21,214 patients attending emergency departments over the study's 10-day period last year, alcohol was a contributory factor in 2,228 cases.

Just over half had sustained some form of injury - including victims of assault due to someone else's drinking - with intoxication the next most common problem. Other conditions recorded included psychiatric problems such as self-harm, plus collapses, and respiratory and heart problems.

Most patients - 56% - were sent home after attending casualty, but almost a third had to be admitted to a ward. The busiest time for alcohol-related attendances was the period between midnight on Friday and 4am on Saturday.

The report is part of a programme of work being carried out by NHS QIS to assess the scale of Scotland's drinking problem.

A spokesman for NHS QIS said: "There is a lack of hard statistical data around the impact of alcohol on the health service. This project is the first attempt to quantify the impact on emergency departments."