Year: 1980
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: To determine the prevalence of alcohol use in casualty patients breath-alcohol analysis was performed on 702 patients attending the accident and emergency department of a large teaching hospital during the evening. Forty per cent of patients had consumed alcohol before attending and 32% had a blood alcohol concentration exceeding 17.4 mmol/l (80 mg/100 ml). Clinical assessment of intoxication resulted in a false-negative diagnosis in 10% of inebriated patients, indicating that an objective measurement of the blood alcohol concentration by a test, such as breath-alcohol analysis, may be of additional value. These findings confirm that a high proportion of emergency-service patients are affected by alcohol and suggest that alcoholism treatment facilities need to be integrated with accident and emergency services.
Source: BMJ
Authors: S Holt, I C Stewart, J M Dixon, R A Elton, T V Taylor, K Little
Language: English
Subfield: Epidemiology
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W1967037699