Relative and population attributable risk of traffic injuries in relation to blood-alcohol levels in a Mediterranean country.
Blood samples were taken from, and interviews were conducted with, 76 persons injured in motor vehicle crashes, and from 126 controls with a home and leisure injury. The analysis was undertaken by modelling the data through conditional logistic regression, controlling for gender- and age-matched variables and other potentially confounding variables, including education and visual acuity. Detectable alcohol levels were associated with a 4.9 relative risk (95% confidence intervals 1.4 to 16.8). The population attributable fraction was about 10% with wide confidence intervals. There was no evidence for a safe threshold in these data. The increased injury risk associated with detectable blood-alcohol levels was disproportionally, albeit non-significantly, elevated among occasional drinkers in comparison to regular drinkers. We conclude that alcohol intake is an important cause of road traffic injuries even in the context of the Mediterranean countries where alcohol is taken in moderation and mainly in the form of wine during meals.
Petridou
E
E
Department of Hygiene and Epidemiology, Athens University Medical School, Greece.
Trichopoulos
D
D
Sotiriou
A
A
Athanasselis
S
S
Kouri
N
N
Dessypris
N
N
Dounis
E
E
Koutselinis
A
A
D000063:Accidents, Traffic / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D000328:Adult; D001334:Automobile Driving; D000431:Ethanol / Q000097:blood*; D005260:Female; D006115:Greece; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D018570:Risk Assessment
D000431:Ethanol