Citation

Verstraete A. Blutalkohol 2000; 37(2): 44-52.

Affiliation

Verstraete, A., Lab. of Clinical Biology-Toxicology, University Hospital, B-9000 Ghent, Belgium

Copyright

(Copyright © 2000, International Committee on Alcohol, Drugs and Traffic Safety and Bund gegen Alkohol und Drogen im Straßenverkehr, Publisher Steintor Verlag)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

The Belgian Toxicology and Traumatology Study (BTTS) was set up to determine the prevalence of positive alcohol and drug findings in injured drivers, the nature and the severity of the injuries and the relation between these findings. During 17 months in the years 1995 and 1996, 2053 drivers of motor vehicles or bicycles, older than 14 years, who had an accident and stayed in the hospital for at least 24 hours (or died in the hospital) were included in the study. Five hospitals situated in different towns (Brussels, Gent, Leuven, Liege and Namur) participated. A questionnaire, regarding driving experience, accident time, place and dynamics, social Status, risk behavior, medical history, alcohol and drug consumption was completed. The toxicological screening analysis was performed in the laboratories of the participating hospitals and included ethanol determination in whole blood and qualitative screening of drugs in urine by fluorescence polarization immunoassay. Confirmation of positive immunoassay results was performed by GC-MS on urine in different centralized laboratories, for all drugs except barbiturates (GC-NPD on plasma) and benzodiazepines (GC-ECD and HPLC on plasma). In weektime accidents, 22% of the victims had blood alcohol concentrations (BAC) exceeding 0.5 g/L. In weekend accidents, this figure rose to 39%. The highest BAC were seen in nighttime accidents (48.7%) and especially during the weekend (54.3%).