title: Alcohol consumption as an incremental factor in health care costs for traffic accident victims: evidence in a medium sized Colombian city.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Identify the possibility that alcohol consumption represents an incremental factor in healthcare costs of patients involved in traffic accidents.
  
  
  METHODS
  Data of people admitted into three major health institutions from an intermediate city in Colombia was collected. Socio-demographic characteristics, health care costs and alcohol consumption levels by breath alcohol concentration (BrAC) methodology were identified. Generalized linear models were applied to investigate whether alcohol consumption acts as an incremental factor for healthcare costs.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The average cost of healthcare was 878 USD. In general, there are differences between health care costs for patients with positive blood alcohol level compared with those who had negative levels. Univariate analysis shows that the average cost of care can be 2.26 times higher (95% CI: 1.20-4.23), and after controlling for patient characteristics, alcohol consumption represents an incremental factor of almost 1.66 times (95% CI: 1.05-2.62).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Alcohol is identified as a possible factor associated with the increased use of direct health care resources. The estimates show the need to implement and enhance prevention programs against alcohol consumption among citizens, in order to mitigate the impact that traffic accidents have on their health status. The law enforcement to help reduce driving under the influence of alcoholic beverages could help to diminish the economic and social impacts of this problem.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Mental Health and Director of the Department of Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Faculty of Medicine, Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, Bogota, Colombia.
authors.forename: Carlos
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Gómez-Restrepo
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Faculty of Medicine, Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, Bogota, Colombia.
authors.forename: María Juliana
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Gómez-García
authors.affiliation: Universidad de Los Andes. Research Director of the Road Prevention Fund Corporation, Colombia.
authors.forename: Salomé
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Naranjo
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Faculty of Medicine, Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, Bogota, Colombia.
authors.forename: Martín Alonso
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Rondón
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Faculty of Medicine, Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, Bogota, Colombia.
authors.forename: Andrés Leonardo
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Acosta-Hernández
mesh_terms: D000063:Accidents, Traffic / Q000191:economics*; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000191:economics*; D001334:Automobile Driving; D001944:Breath Tests; D003105:Colombia; D000431:Ethanol / Q000032:analysis; D005260:Female; D017048:Health Care Costs; D006760:Hospitalization / Q000191:economics*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000191:economics*; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D000431:Ethanol
keywords: Alcohol consumption; Colombia; Hospitalization costs; Traffic accidents