title: Alcoholism at the time of injury among trauma center patients: vehicular crash victims compared with other patients.
abstract: A structured in-depth interview employing standardized criteria was used to determine the prevalence of lifetime and current alcohol dependence (alcoholism) in unselected consecutive patients admitted to a regional Level I trauma center. Of 629 patients, 157 (25.0%) were current alcoholics at the time of injury. An additional 87 (13.8%) were diagnosed as lifetime non-current alcoholics. There was no significant difference in the rates of current alcohol dependence among patients injured in vehicular crashes (23.5%), other unintentional trauma victims (29.3%), and those injured as a result of violence (24.6%). Of BAC+ (blood alcohol concentration positive) patients, 54.5% were current alcoholics. However, 14.4% of alcohol-negative patients were also diagnosed as alcohol dependent.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery and Traumatology, R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center, University of Maryland Medical Center, Baltimore, MD, USA.
authors.forename: C A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Soderstrom
authors.forename: P C
authors.initials: PC
authors.lastname: Dischinger
authors.forename: G S
authors.initials: GS
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.forename: J R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Hebel
authors.forename: D R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: McDuff
authors.forename: D A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Gorelick
authors.forename: T J
authors.initials: TJ
authors.lastname: Kerns
authors.forename: S M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Ho
authors.forename: K M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Read
mesh_terms: D000063:Accidents, Traffic; D000328:Adult; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology; D000431:Ethanol / Q000097:blood; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008396:Maryland / Q000453:epidemiology; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D014193:Trauma Centers
chemical_list: D000431:Ethanol