Analysis of the Socio-demographic Characteristics of Alcohol-related Injury Patients in Emergency Room

Abstract

Objectives: This study was designed to find out the influences of alcohol among injury patients in Emergency Room and analyze the socio-demographic characteristics of alcohol-related injury patients.

Method: The participants in this study were injured patients from the Emergency Rooms of four General Hospitals in four big cities in South Korea. From October 2008 to July 2009, each hospital interviewed 500 injured patients who were over 18 years old. The hospitals followed WHO protocol and procedure. 1,989 cases were used in the final analysis.

Results: The major findings may be summarized as follows:1. According to the ICD10 Y91 code, when the injured patient arrived at the Emergency Room, 0.7% of patients were severely drunk, 1.8% had a high level of drunkeness, 5.4% had a medium level of drunkeness, and 12.3% had a light level of drunkeness. All together, 20.2% of injuries were alcohol related.2. The results of the Breathalyzer test showed that 15.6% of patients had over 0.01 Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC) level. 3. 23.6% injured patients had been drinking within 6 hours prior to the injury.4. Men were 2.67 times more likely to be injured than women in alcohol related incidents, and people under the age of 49 have 1.53 times more possibilities of being injured in alcohol related incidents than people over 50 years old.