TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2000//
TI  - Detectable blood alcohol after a motor vehicle crash and screening for alcohol abuse/dependence
JO  - Mayo Clinic proceedings
A1  - Maxson, P. M.
A1  - Berge, K. H.
A1  - Hall-Flavin, D. K.
A1  - Zietlow, S. P.
A1  - Schroeder, D. R.
A1  - Lange, C. M.
SP  - 231
EP  - 234
VL  - 75
IS  - 3
N2  - 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.<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 0025-6196
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/
ID  - ref1
ER  -