Biomaterial Database

Impact of acute alcohol intoxication on the severity of injury: a cause-specific analysis of non-fatal trauma. 1990

R Honkanen, and G S Smith

Research Institute of Public Health, University of Kuopio, Finland.

The impact of alcohol on the severity of injury was studied by using injured patients from an emergency room in Helsinki, Finland. Blood alcohol content was estimated either clinically or with a breath test and then was recorded using a three-grade intoxication code (Ethyl sign). The study population was comprised of 14,995 men aged 15-64 years. The Ethyl sign was positive in 19.7 per cent. Hospitalization was used as an indicator of the severity of injury. Hospitalization was almost as common among sober (9.3 per cent) as among intoxicated patients (9.6 per cent) and the odds of being hospitalized, if considered 1.0 among the sober, was 1.03 among the intoxicated. However, the severity of injury correlated positively with the alcohol intoxication in the injured car occupants with an odds ratio (OR) of 3.1 (95 per cent confidence interval (CI) 1.7-5.6) and in those injured in falls from stairs (OR = 2.6; 95 per cent CI 1.4-4.7), but negatively in those injured in unspecified falls on the same level (OR = 0.3; 95 per cent CI 0.2-0.6). The effect of alcohol on injury severity seems to vary with the cause of injury.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D008297	Male		Males
D008875	Middle Aged	An adult aged 45 - 64 years.	Middle Age
D012042	Registries	The systems and processes involved in the establishment, support, management, and operation of registers, e.g., disease registers.	Parish Registers,Population Register,Parish Register,Population Registers,Register, Parish,Register, Population,Registers, Parish,Registers, Population,Registry
D012044	Regression Analysis	Procedures for finding the mathematical function which best describes the relationship between a dependent variable and one or more independent variables. In linear regression (see LINEAR MODELS) the relationship is constrained to be a straight line and LEAST-SQUARES ANALYSIS is used to determine the best fit. In logistic regression (see LOGISTIC MODELS) the dependent variable is qualitative rather than continuously variable and LIKELIHOOD FUNCTIONS are used to find the best relationship. In multiple regression, the dependent variable is considered to depend on more than a single independent variable.	Regression Diagnostics,Statistical Regression,Analysis, Regression,Analyses, Regression,Diagnostics, Regression,Regression Analyses,Regression, Statistical,Regressions, Statistical,Statistical Regressions
D004630	Emergencies	Situations or conditions requiring immediate intervention to avoid serious adverse results.	Emergency
D005387	Finland	A country in northern Europe, bordering the Baltic Sea, Gulf of Bothnia, and Gulf of Finland, between Sweden and Russia. The capital is Helsinki.	Aland Islands,Åland Islands
D006760	Hospitalization	The confinement of a patient in a hospital.	Hospitalizations
D006801	Humans	Members of the species Homo sapiens.	Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D000061	Accidents, Home	ACCIDENTS which occur within the home.	Home Accidents,Accident, Home,Home Accident
D000063	Accidents, Traffic	Accidents on streets, roads, and highways involving drivers, passengers, pedestrians, or vehicles. Traffic accidents refer to AUTOMOBILES (passenger cars, buses, and trucks), BICYCLING, and MOTORCYCLES but not OFF-ROAD MOTOR VEHICLES; RAILROADS nor snowmobiles.	Traffic Collisions,Traffic Crashes,Traffic Accidents,Accident, Traffic,Collision, Traffic,Collisions, Traffic,Crashes, Traffic,Traffic Accident,Traffic Collision