Alcohol and injuries resulting from violence: a review of emergency room studies

This paper reviews emergency room (ER) studies from a number of countries which have reported findings related to the association of alcohol and injuries resulting from violence. Special attention is given to those studies which used probability samples of patients which were representative of the population served by the emergency room facility where the data were collected, and which compared those admitted to the ER with violence-related injuries with those admitted to the same ER during the same period of time with injuries unrelated to violence. Those with violence-related injuries were more likely to be admitted to the ER with a positive blood alcohol concentration, to report drinking prior to the event, to report more frequency heavy drinking and to report more alcohol-related problems than those admitted with injuries from other causes.