ALCOHOL AND INJURIES RESULTING FROM VIOLENCE - A COMPARISON OF EMERGENCY ROOM SAMPLES FROM 2 REGIONS OF THE US

Data on representative samples of emergency room patients from a wet r egion of the U.S. (Contra Costa County, California) and a dry region ( Jackson, Mississippi) were analyzed to explore the influence of drinki ng patterns, rates of abstinence, and per capita consumption with resp ect to alcohol's role in injuries involving violence. In both samples those with violence-related injuries were more likely to have a positi ve breathalyzer reading, to report drinking within six hours prior to the event and to report drunkenness and alcohol-related problems compa red to those with other injuries. A larger proportion of those with vi olence-related injuries in the Jackson sample reported consuming more drinks prior to injury and a shorter time lapse between drinking and t he event than those in Contra Costa. They were no more likely, however , to report feeling drunk at the time or to attribute a causal associa tion between drinking and the event. The data suggest there may be a c loser association of alcohol with violence in the Jackson sample compa red to Contra Costa.