[Injuries under the influence of alcohol]
- PMID: 27008216
- DOI: 10.1007/s00113-016-0164-6
[Injuries under the influence of alcohol]
Abstract
Background: In Germany, an average of 9.5 L of pure alcohol is consumed per capita per year. Alcohol is known to negatively influence psychomotor abilities. The aim of this study was to evaluate injuries that lead to hospital admission with and without prior intake of alcohol.
Patients and methods: Over a 7-month period, all 1317 patients who were admitted to the hospital because of an injury were evaluated with respect to their blood-alcohol level. Patient data of both groups (139 injuries under alcohol influence and 1178 injuries without alcohol influence) were compared with respect to the mechanism and type of injury, patient demographics, and treatment costs.
Results: At the time of presentation, 11 % (n = 139) of all admitted patients had detectable blood-alcohol levels of more than 0.1 g/L with an average blood-alcohol level of 2.21 g/L. Female patients had an average of 1.96 g/L and males an average of 2.28 g/L (N.S.). Almost every fifth male patient (109 out of 570, 19 %) had a detectable blood-alcohol level, compared to only 4 % of all admitted female patients. Among the patients admitted between 11:00 p.m. and 5:00 a.m., 35 % had detectable blood-alcohol levels and among the 20- to 30-year-old patients, 24 % had detectable blood-alcohol levels. The leading mechanisms of injury among intoxicated patients were falls (50 %, n = 70) and physical violence (18 %, n = 25). The latter was recorded significantly (p = 0.01) less among sober patients (0.17 %, n = 2). The most frequent diagnosis was a mild concussion in both intoxicated (60%, n = 84) and sober (34 %, n = 402) patients (p = 0.04). The time to discharge averaged 4.3 days for intoxicated and 5.6 days for sober patients.
Conclusions: Injuries that occur while under the influence of alcohol that lead to hospital admission are particularly frequent in male patients aged between 20 and 30 years. They do not necessarily lead to more severe injuries.
Keywords: Admission; Alcohol; Discharge; Injury; Severity.
Similar articles
-
Age and gender as independent predictors of violence under the influence of alcohol in Zurich, Switzerland.Praxis (Bern 1994). 2015 Apr 8;104(8):397-401. doi: 10.1024/1661-8157/a001971. Praxis (Bern 1994). 2015. PMID: 25851368
-
The impact of alcohol intoxication in patients admitted due to assault at an Australian major trauma centre: a trauma registry study from 1999 to 2009.Emerg Med J. 2014 May;31(5):390-3. doi: 10.1136/emermed-2012-202076. Epub 2013 Feb 16. Emerg Med J. 2014. PMID: 23417268
-
Does alcohol intoxication protect patients from severe injury and reduce hospital mortality? The association of alcohol consumption with the severity of injury and survival in trauma patients.Am Surg. 2013 Dec;79(12):1289-94. Am Surg. 2013. PMID: 24351358
-
Driving intoxicated: is hospital admission protective against legal ramifications?J Trauma Acute Care Surg. 2013 Dec;75(6):1081-4. doi: 10.1097/TA.0b013e3182a68704. J Trauma Acute Care Surg. 2013. PMID: 24256685
-
Acute Alcohol Intoxication in Patients with Mild Traumatic Brain Injury: Characteristics, Recovery, and Outcome.J Neurotrauma. 2016 Feb 15;33(4):339-45. doi: 10.1089/neu.2015.3926. Epub 2015 Oct 9. J Neurotrauma. 2016. PMID: 26230219
Cited by
-
The alcohol-intoxicated trauma patient: impact on imaging and radiation exposure.Eur J Trauma Emerg Surg. 2019 Oct;45(5):871-876. doi: 10.1007/s00068-018-0945-4. Epub 2018 Mar 22. Eur J Trauma Emerg Surg. 2019. PMID: 29569001
-
Increased proportion of alcohol-related trauma in a South London major trauma centre during lockdown: A cohort study.Chin J Traumatol. 2022 Sep;25(5):277-282. doi: 10.1016/j.cjtee.2021.11.006. Epub 2021 Dec 14. Chin J Traumatol. 2022. PMID: 35039216 Free PMC article.
-
Comparison of injury pattern and clinical outcomes between young adults and elderly patients with alcohol-related injury in South Korea 2011-2016.PeerJ. 2019 Sep 27;7:e7704. doi: 10.7717/peerj.7704. eCollection 2019. PeerJ. 2019. PMID: 31579598 Free PMC article.
References
Publication types
MeSH terms
Substances
LinkOut - more resources
Full Text Sources
Other Literature Sources
Medical
Miscellaneous