Detectable blood alcohol after a motor vehicle crash and screening for alcohol abuse/dependence.
OBJECTIVE
To determine the percentage of patients hospitalized after an alcohol-related motor vehicle crash (MVC) who underwent a screening evaluation for alcohol abuse/dependence and had a diagnosis of alcohol abuse/dependence.


METHODS
Medical and emergency trauma records were reviewed retrospectively for 1994 through 1996 to identify patients who were hospitalized as a result of being involved in an MVC with any detected blood alcohol at the time of admission to a large midwestern Level I trauma center. The primary outcome measure was the performance of alcohol abuse/dependence screening by a psychiatrist or a chemical dependency counselor. A univariate analysis was performed to identify factors associated with the performance of alcohol abuse/dependence screening. The Fisher exact test and the 2-sample rank sum test were used in the analyses.


RESULTS
Of the 294 study patients, 78 (26.5%) underwent a screening evaluation for alcohol abuse/dependence by a psychiatrist or a chemical dependency counselor during hospitalization, and 69 (88%) of the 78 patients screened had a diagnosis of alcohol abuse/dependence. Factors associated with the performance of alcohol abuse/dependence evaluation included a known prior history of alcohol abuse, suspicion of alcohol consumption documented by emergency department personnel, higher blood alcohol level at admission, and longer length of hospitalization (all P < .001).


CONCLUSIONS
While the high rate of alcohol abuse/dependence may be explained partially by distinguishing factors in those screened, these findings suggest that routine alcohol abuse/dependence screening of persons presenting with a detectable blood alcohol level following an MVC may identify patients who would benefit from a chemical dependency intervention.
Maxson
P M
PM
Department of Anesthesiology, Mayo Clinic Rochester, MN 55905, USA.
Berge
K H
KH
Hall-Flavin
D K
DK
Zietlow
S P
SP
Schroeder
D R
DR
Lange
C M
CM
D000063:Accidents, Traffic; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000175:diagnosis*; D000431:Ethanol / Q000097:blood*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening; D008875:Middle Aged; D014481:United States
D000431:Ethanol