[Alcohol and the risk of injuries in 3 emergency services in Acapulco, Mexico]

The present study of 421 cases and controls was conducted in three hospitals in the city of Acapulco, Mexico, over a one-month period to determine whether alcohol consumption constitutes a risk factor in four types of traumatic events: assaults and fights, falls, traffic accidents, and domestic accidents. A total of 274 cases were selected from the population over 15 years of age who presented at the emergency services in the three hospitals for injuries sustained in these occurrences, together with 126 controls from the same age group who consulted the services because of occupational accidents, sports injuries, and animal and insect bites. The amount of alcohol consumed prior to the trauma was measured by blood alcohol concentration (determined by an alcoholometer) and the degree and state of intoxication reported by the patient himself. The relative risk associated with each variable was calculated using the odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence intervals. Logistic regression was used to control the OR for sex, age, schooling, place of residence, occupation, and time of the week when the injury occurred. The results showed that moderate alcoholemia (10-99 mg/100 ml) constitutes a risk factor for assaults and fights (OR = 12.77; CI = 3.69-44.15) and traffic accidents (OR = 8.96; CI = 2.01-39.96). On the other hand, there was no significant correlation between the four types of injury and alcoholemia over 99 mg/100 ml.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)