According to a new study, doctors are unable to spot drinking problems in patients when they come in a sober state.

GPs have only been able to identify about 40 per cent of the problem drinkers when they came for a visit without intoxication. The doctors at the hospital were able to diagnose 50 per cent of the time while health specialists were successful and were able to identify 55 per cent of the problem drinkers, according to the analysis.

Interestingly, the correct diagnosis was not better even for patients when they self-reported drinking problems. The reason could be the unwillingness of the doctors to ask appropriate questions about the drinking habits of the patients. Intoxicated patients were correctly diagnosed most of the time. About nine out of ten cases of drunkenness being correctly spotted by doctors in A&E departments.

Dr Alex Mitchell, who led the study, said: "When clinicians try and spot alcohol problems they often miss patients who have serious alcohol problems but who are not currently intoxicated. Further they can misidentify about 5 per cent of normal drinkers as problem drinkers.

Under the new study, the researchers reviewed 39 previous studies by Leicester University researchers that involved more than 20,000 patients.