Using urine specific gravity testing to estimate fluid intake Compulsive Water Drinking (CWD) was found to occur, without an age or sex bias, in 19.1% of rehabilitation inpatients in a Canadian psychiatric hospital. Chart review indicated that Water Intoxication had not been a major problem for these patients during their hospitalisation. Nursing opinion appeared to be a relatively weak test for CWD. In a comparison with age and sex matched control patients no significant association with alcohol abuse for the CWD patients or their relatives was found.
