title: The effect of alcohol consumption on emergency department services use among injured patients: A cross-national emergency room study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Although injured patients in the emergency department (ED) report more frequent use of the ED compared with the general population, and alcohol-related admissions and chronic alcohol misuse have been found to be predictive of future ED admissions, these data are based on only a few U.S. studies. The purpose of this article was to explore the association of alcohol use and ED services use among injured patients cross-nationally.
  
  
  METHODS
  Binary and multinomial logistic regression were used to analyze the association of alcohol consumption with prior ED visits among 9,743 injured patients surveyed in 37 EDs in 14 countries and reported in 23 studies from the combined Emergency Room Collaborative Alcohol Analysis Project (ERCAAP) and World Health Organization Collaborative Study of Alcohol and Injuries.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Drinking within 6 hours before injury was associated with prior ED visits during the last 12 months (odds ratio = 1.25, p < .05), with a positive dose-response relationship. Heavy drinkers and those drinkers who were alcohol-dependent were also significantly more likely to report multiple prior ED visits, reflecting an elevated burden of services use. At the ED level, stigmatization of alcohol use was the only significant contextual variable that consistently predicted cross-ED variation in the relationship between drinking and ED use, in which the association was weaker in areas where alcohol use is less accepted.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study lends additional support to the potential effectiveness of screening for acute and chronic alcohol use among ED injured patients to reduce ED services use and associated costs.
authors.affiliation: Alcohol Research Group, 6475 Christie Avenue, Emeryville, California 94608, USA. ccherpitel@arg.org
authors.forename: Cheryl J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Cherpitel
authors.forename: Yu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ye
authors.forename: Jason
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bond
authors.forename: Jürgen
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Rehm
authors.forename: Mariana
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cremonte
authors.forename: Otilia
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Neves
authors.forename: Jacek
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Moskalewicz
authors.forename: Grazyna
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Swiatkiewicz
authors.forename: Norman
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Giesbrecht
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000009:adverse effects*; D004632:Emergency Medical Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D038622:Internationality; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000209:etiology*