Alcoholism at the time of injury among trauma center patients: vehicular crash victims compared with other patients.
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.
Soderstrom
C A
CA
Department of Surgery and Traumatology, R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center, University of Maryland Medical Center, Baltimore, MD, USA.
Dischinger
P C
PC
Smith
G S
GS
Hebel
J R
JR
McDuff
D R
DR
Gorelick
D A
DA
Kerns
T J
TJ
Ho
S M
SM
Read
K M
KM
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
D000431:Ethanol