Cj. Cherpitel, INJURY AND THE ROLE OF ALCOHOL - COUNTY-WIDE EMERGENCY ROOM DATA, Alcoholism, clinical and experimental research, 18(3), 1994, pp. 679-684
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.