Recidivism in a cohort of young Australian drinking-drivers.
Four hundred and sixty-three men aged 18-25 years were referred to a counselling programme in 1975-1977, after their first conviction for an alcohol-related traffic offence. Records of the Victoria Police, and those of the Motor Registration Board, were searched for subsequent alcohol-related traffic offences up to February 1984. Those subjects who had left the State of Victoria or had died were identified, and a "survival" curve was constructed where survival implied freedom from reconviction for an alcohol-related traffic offence. By means of Cox's proportional hazards model, the rate ratios of a number of predictor variables of recidivism were calculated; those of significance were the number of drinks per week, social class, and a history of "family troubles with drinking". Reduction of alcohol consumption may be a more appropriate goal in programmes that are concerned with the counselling of young drinking-drivers than is attempted modification of the drinking-driving nexus.
Christie
D
D
University of Melbourne Department of Community Medicine, Carlton, VIC.
Gordon
I
I
Robinson
K
K
Santamaria
J
J
O'Brien
M
M
D000063:Accidents, Traffic; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000428:Alcohol Drinking; D001315:Australia; D001334:Automobile Driving; D003376:Counseling; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors