ALCOHOL AND INJURY IN THE GENERAL-POPULATION - DATA FROM 2 HOUSEHOLD SAMPLES

Objective: While a large literature exists on the association of alcoh ol and injury, coming largely from studies carried out in hospital eme rgency rooms (ERs), it is not known how representative ER patients are of those who are injured and treated elsewhere, or of those who are i njured and receive no treatment. This article reports data on alcohol, injury and ER treatment in the general population. Method: Data were collected in two household probability samples: a national sample (N = 1,144) and a California county sample (N = 3,065). Results: In the na tional sample those treated in the ER for an injury were more likely t o be younger, black and heavier drinkers, and were more likely to repo rt experiences associated with alcohol dependence compared to those wi th other injuries, treated or untreated. In the county sample, those t reated in the ER were more likely to have been drinking prior to the i njury event, to be injured on the street and to report the event to be related to violence compared either to those whose injuries were trea ted elsewhere or to those who received no treatment for their injuries . Conclusions: These data support the contention that findings on asso ciations of alcohol and injury obtained from ER studies cannot be gene ralized to other injuries in the same population or to other populatio ns.