Alcohol and accidents. A prospective study in a casualty department

This study examines the incidence of alcohol-related accidents among trauma patients of working age (15-64 years). The study was made during a one-week period in the Casualty Department of Orthopaedics and Traumatology of Helsinki University Central Hospital in Finland. Patients were divided into two groups according to the time of their admission. The state of alcohol intoxication was determined in Group I using a breath alcohol analyzer (alcometer) and in Group II using both alcometer and blood alcohol concentration (BAC). The frequency of alcohol-related accidents in the whole material was 32.8% (Group I 12.4% and Group II 44.5%). Four-fifths of the patients were man. A high correlation (r = 0.93) was found between alcometer and BAC. In Group II there were intoxication levels of 3% or more (mean 3.6%) in 5.7% of all patients. This is a large number of cases of heavy alcohol intoxication and we propose to take the BAC of all patients having alcometer 3% or more in order to get as accurate a diagnosis of alcohol intoxication as possible. Fights and assaults were most frequently related to the alcohol intoxication cases.