Alcohol and nonlethal injuries: a Swiss emergency department study on the risk relationship between acute alcohol consumption and type of injury.
BACKGROUND
Acute alcohol consumption has been reported to be an important risk factor for injury, but clear scientific evidence on issues such as injury type is not available. The present study aims to improve the knowledge of the importance of alcohol consumption as an injury determinant with regards to two dimensions of the type of injury, namely the nature and the body region involved.


METHODS
Risk relationships between two injury type components and acute alcohol use were estimated through multinomial and logistic regression models based on data from 7,529 patients-among whom 3,682 had injury diagnoses-gathered in a Swiss emergency department.


RESULTS
Depending on the type of injury, between 31.1% and 48.7% of casualties report alcohol use before emergency department attendance. The multinomial regression models show that even low alcohol levels are consistently associated with nearly all natures of injury and body regions. A persistent dose-response effect between alcohol levels and risk associations was observed for almost all injury types.


CONCLUSIONS
The results highlight the importance and consistency of the risk association between low and moderate levels of acute alcohol consumption and all types of injury. None of the body regions and natures of injury could pride on absence of association between alcohol and injury. Public health, prevention, and care implications are considered.
Kuendig
Hervé
H
Department of Public Health Sciences, Division of International Health, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden. hkuendig@gmail.com
Hasselberg
Marie
M
Laflamme
Lucie
L
Daeppen
Jean-Bernard
JB
Gmel
Gerhard
G
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000009:adverse effects*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D013557:Switzerland; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000209:etiology*