COFACTORS OF ALCOHOL-RELATED TRAUMA AT A RURAL TRAUMA CENTER

To analyze the cofactors of alcohol-related trauma at a rural, Level I I trauma center, 127 admitted trauma patients were interviewed about p sychological problems, social factors, and medical histories. Patients were divided into two groups, blood alcohol content (BAC) positive an d BAC negative, for analysis, Seventy-one patients (56%) were BAC nega tive; 56 (44%) were BAC positive, Forty-three of the 82 males (52%) ha d positive BAC tests, compared with 13 of the 45 females (29%) (P = .0 1), Fifty-one of the 56 BAG-positive patients (91%) were aged 21 to 50 years, compared with 29 of the 71 BAC negative patients (41%) (P = .0 001). Ten of the 12 patients (83%) who were recently unemployed were B AC positive, compared with 46 of the 115 patients (40%) who were not r ecently unemployed (P = .004), Eleven of the 12 patients (92%) with po sitive drug screens were BAC positive, compared with 45 of the 115 pat ients (39%) with negative drug screens (P = .0005), These results show that there are important cofactors of alcohol related trauma in rural areas. Copyright (C) 1998 by W.B. Saunders.