Citation

Maxson PM, Berge KH, Hall-Flavin DK, Zietlow SP, Schroeder DR, Lange CM. Mayo Clin. Proc. 2000; 75(3): 231-234.

Affiliation

Department of Anesthesiology, Mayo Clinic Rochester, MN 55905, USA.

Comment In:

Mayo Clin Proc 2000;75(3):229-30.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2000, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

10725947

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To determine the percentage of patients hospitalized after an alcohol-related motor vehicle crash (MVC) who underwent a screening evaluation for alcohol abuse/dependence and had a diagnosis of alcohol abuse/dependence. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Medical and emergency trauma records were reviewed retrospectively for 1994 through 1996 to identify patients who were hospitalized as a result of being involved in an MVC with any detected blood alcohol at the time of admission to a large midwestern Level I trauma center. The primary outcome measure was the performance of alcohol abuse/dependence screening by a psychiatrist or a chemical dependency counselor. A univariate analysis was performed to identify factors associated with the performance of alcohol abuse/dependence screening. The Fisher exact test and the 2-sample rank sum test were used in the analyses. RESULTS: Of the 294 study patients, 78 (26.5%) underwent a screening evaluation for alcohol abuse/dependence by a psychiatrist or a chemical dependency counselor during hospitalization, and 69 (88%) of the 78 patients screened had a diagnosis of alcohol abuse/dependence. Factors associated with the performance of alcohol abuse/dependence evaluation included a known prior history of alcohol abuse, suspicion of alcohol consumption documented by emergency department personnel, higher blood alcohol level at admission, and longer length of hospitalization (all P < .001). CONCLUSION: While the high rate of alcohol abuse/dependence may be explained partially by distinguishing factors in those screened, these findings suggest that routine alcohol abuse/dependence screening of persons presenting with a detectable blood alcohol level following an MVC may identify patients who would benefit from a chemical dependency intervention.

Language: en