4 research outputs found
āNurse, I Only Had a Couple of Beersā: Validity of Self-reported Drinking Before Serious Vehicular Injury
Patterns of Drinking Four Weeks Prior to an Alcohol-Related Vehicular Crash
Objective:The primary objective of the study was to determine if drinking patterns on the days immediately prior to an alcohol-related motor vehicle crash (ARMVC) were significantly different than drinking patterns in the weeks prior to the crash.
Methods:Following ARMVC, 187 hospitalized non-alcohol dependent young-adults (43 females, 144 males) were enrolled. Mean age was 29.03 years, mean blood alcohol level was 165.18 mg/dL, and mean injury severity score was 10.50. When alcohol-free, subjects were interviewed by nurse clinicians to determine the quantity/frequency of alcohol consumption during the 28 days prior to the crash. Subjects reported the number of standard drinks using the Timeline Followback procedure. Total drinks/day were determined, with day 1 considered 4 weeks prior to the crash and day 28 the day of the crash. A random-intercepts general linear mixed model (GLMM) was used to test the effect of several covariates (segment 1 [days 1-26], segment 2 [days 27-28], age, sex, race, holiday/non-holiday period, driver/passenger status, and weekend/weekday crash) on the amount of standard drinks/day.
Results:There was no significant interaction among the covariates. The only significant predictors of drinks/day were segment 2 (b = .322, p \u3c .0001) and gender (b = -.221, p = .016). The positive, statistically significant slope for segment 2 indicated an increase in consumption of drinks/day in the two-day period prior to the ARMVC and the negative slope for gender indicated greater consumption of drinks/day for men than women.
Conclusion: Persons injured in an ARMVC had a significant increase in alcohol consumption on the day before and the day of vehicular crashes (days 27 and 28) as compared to the first 26 days in the 28-day period preceding the crash. When non-alcohol-dependent subjects are counseled to reduce their risk of traffic crashes, they should be alerted that when their patterns of drinking change, they are at higher risk than usual for a crash
Effectiveness of Brief Interventions Following Alcohol-Related Vehicular Injury: A Randomized Controlled Trial
Background: Because 40% of motor vehicle fatalities in the United States are alcohol-related, interventions delivered by trauma clinicians targeted to reduce drinking are of particular importance to public health. The objective of this study was to test the effectiveness of hospital-based brief intervention strategies to reduce alcohol consumption and other health-related outcomes in the year after an alcohol-related vehicular injury. Brief interventions are clinically based strategies including assessment and direct feedback about drinking alcohol, goal setting, behavioral modification techniques, and the use of a self-help manual.
Methods: The study was a randomized controlled trial of two types of brief intervention with a 12-month follow-up. Participants with alcohol-related vehicular injury who were admitted to Level I trauma centers were eligible for enrollment. Enrolled participants were randomized to a control, simple advice, or brief counseling condition. Primary outcome variables were alcohol consumption (standard drinks/month, binges/month), adverse driving events (driving citations, traffic crashes), and changes in health status (hospital and emergency department admissions).
Results: The study enrolled 187 participants at baseline and retained 100 across 12 months. Participants had a significant decrease in alcohol consumption and traffic citations at 12 months as compared with baseline. Mean standard drinks/month declined from 56.80 (SD 63.89) at baseline to 32.10 (SD 53.20) at 12 months. Mean binges/month declined from 5.79 (SD 6.98) at baseline to 3.21 (SD 6.17) at 12 months. There were no differences in alcohol consumption, adverse driving events, or health status by condition.
Conclusions: Whether the reductions in alcohol consumption and traffic citations were a result of the crash, hospitalization for injury, screening for alcohol use, or combination of these factors is difficult to determine. Further work is needed to understand the mechanisms involved in reductions of health-related outcomes and the role of brief intervention in this population