INJURY AND THE ROLE OF ALCOHOL - COUNTY-WIDE EMERGENCY ROOM DATA

The purpose of this study is to describe variables associated with inj ury in an emergency room (ER) sample that is representative of an enti re U.S. county. A probability sample (n = 3717) of ER patients from th e county hospital, 3 of the 6 community hospitals, and the three healt h maintenance organization hospitals in a single Northern California c ounty were breathalyzed and interviewed at the time of the ER visit. I njured were most likely to consume only 1 or 2 drinks within <1 hr of injury occurrence. Twenty-three percent reported feeling drunk at the time of the event, and of these, 45% felt the event would not have hap pened if they had not been drinking. Breathalyzer reading, feeling dru nk at the time of the event, and quantity-frequency (Q-F) of usual dri nking were found to be predictive of admission to the ER with an injur y, whereas breathalyzer reading, Q-F, and being injured in someone's h ome were predictive of reporting drinking prior to injury. Although fe eling drunk at the time of the event and usual drinking patterns are p redictive of injury occurrence, drinking prior to the event may not en tail large quantities of alcohol consumed, but relatively small amount s consumed in close proximity to the injury event. These alcohol consu mption variables may vary, however, depending on the type, cause, and severity of injury.