INJURY AS A MOTIVATOR TO REDUCE DRINKING

Objectives: To identify predictors of readiness to change drinking beh avior by minor-injury patients who had positive saliva alcohol tests ( SATs) in the ED. To develop and test a model intended to be prognostic of readiness to change, which included predispositional and injury-ev ent-related variables. Methods: An on-site survey was conducted of min or-injury ED patients sampled consecutively during predesignated perio ds. Patients were identified as SAT-positive during their screening ev aluations. After giving their consent, they were administered a self-r eport battery that assessed predispositional and injury-event-related variables as well as readiness to change their drinking. Predictors of readiness to change drinking were tested with regression analyses. Re sults: Twenty-four SAT-positive patients participated; there were 18 m en and six women (average age 34 years). Preinjury predispositional va riables were by themselves unrelated to the patient's readiness to cha nge while in the ED. Aversiveness of the injury and perception of degr ee of alcohol involvement were injury-event-related variables predicti ve of readiness to change (p < 0.008). Negative consequences attribute d to drinking prior to the injury event strengthened the association o f injury aversiveness and alcohol involvement with readiness to change (p < 0.0075). Conclusion: Interventions to decrease drinking in this population should focus on increasing patient awareness of the associa tion between drinking, injuries, and other alcohol-related negative co nsequences.