Detectable blood alcohol after a motor vehicle crash and screening for alcohol abuse/dependence

Objective: To determine the percentage of patients hospitalized after an al cohol-related motor vehicle crash (MVC) who underwent a screening evaluatio n for alcohol abuse/dependence and had a diagnosis of alcohol abuse/ depend ence. Patients and Methods: Medical and emergency trauma records were reviewed re trospectively for 1994 through 1996 to identify patients who were hospitali zed as a result of being involved in an MVC with any detected blood alcohol at the time of admission to a large midwestern Level I trauma center, The primary outcome measure was the performance of alcohol abuse/dependence scr eening by a psychiatrist or a chemical dependency counselor. A univariate a nalysis was performed to identify factors associated with the performance o f alcohol abuse/dependence screening. The Fisher exact test and the 2-sampl e rank sum test were used in the analyses. Results: Of the 294 study patients, 78 (26.5%) underwent a screening evalua tion for alcohol abuse/dependence by a psychiatrist or a chemical dependenc y counselor during hospitalization, and 69 (88%) of the 78 patients screene d had a diagnosis of alcohol abuse/dependence. Factors associated with the performance of alcohol abuse/ dependence evaluation included a known prior history of alcohol abuse, suspicion of alcohol consumption documented by em ergency department personnel, higher blood alcohol level at admission, and longer length of hospitalization (all P<.001). Conclusion: While the high rate of alcohol abuse/ dependence may be explain ed partially by distinguishing factors in those screened, these findings su ggest that routine alcohol abuse/dependence screening of persons presenting with a detectable blood alcohol level following an MVC mag identify patien ts who would benefit from a chemical dependency intervention.