Affiliation: | a Department of Surgery and Traumatology, R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center, University of Maryland Medical Center, U.S.A. b Charles McC. Mathias Jr., National Study Center for Trauma and Emergency Medical Systems, University of Maryland Medical Center, U.S.A. c The Johns Hopkins Center for Injury Research and Policy, University of Maryland Medical Center, U.S.A. d Department of Epidemiology, University of Maryland Medical Center, U.S.A. e Department of Psychiatry, University of Maryland School of Medicine, U.S.A. f Addiction Research Center, National Institute on Drug Abuse, Baltimore, MD, U.S.A. |
Abstract: | A structured in-depth interview employing standardized criteria was used to determine the prevalence of lifetime and current alcohol dependence (alcoholism) in unselected consecutive patients admitted to a regional Level I trauma center. Of 629 patients, 157 (25.0%) were current alcoholics at the time of injury. An additional 87 (13.8%) were diagnosed as lifetime non-current alcoholics. There was no significant difference in the rates of current alcohol dependence among patients injured in vehicular crashes (23.5%), other unintentional trauma victims (29.3%), and those injured as a result of violence (24.6%). Of BAC + (blood alcohol concentration positive) patients, 54.5% were current alcoholics. However, 14.4% of alcohol-negative patients were also diagnosed as alcohol dependent. |