Effect of alcohol intake on the severity of injuries caused by slipping down

Abstract

Objective Alcohol consumption is associated with an increased risk of injuries. However, its effects on injury severity and mortality remain unclear. Specifically, the effects of alcohol intake on the severity of slip injuries have not been thoroughly investigated. Therefore, our study aimed to investigate the effects of alcohol intake on injury patterns and severity in patients experiencing slip injuries. Methods Emergency department surveillance data collected from 2011 to 2016 were analyzed for this study. Among patients aged 15 and older who were admitted for slip injuries, we compared the type and severity of injuries between the alcohol-intake group and the no-alcohol-intake group. Injury severity was classified as non-severe and severe based on the excess mortality ratio-adjusted injury severity score. Results In total, 227,548 (alcohol-intake, n = 48,581; no-alcohol-intake, n = 178,967) patients were included. After adjusting for age, time of injury, use of public ambulance, and season, multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that injuries were more likely to be severe in the alcohol-intake group than in the no-alcohol-intake group (odds ratio, 1.60; 95% confidence interval, 1.47-1.75). In addition, male gender and alcohol consumption had a greater synergistic effect on injury severity than the mere sum of each effect of these factors (odds ratio, 2.65; 95% confidence interval, 2.53-2.78). Conclusion Assessment of the patients influenced by alcohol was a challenge in the emergency department due to altered mental status. We suggest a considerate approach in testing and assessing male patients who slipped after alcohol-intake in the emergency department.

Mushroom intoxications presented to emergency departments in South Korea: a 2011‐2019 national registry study

“…Each ED has coordinators for collecting standard data, and the KCDC monitors the quality of the data on a monthly basis. The coordinators participating in the survey were expected to follow-up the outcome once more within 2 weeks of the entire missing or invalid survey target patients, and the date of diagnosis, detailed diagnosis according to ICD-10 code, surgery date, and types were listed [13,14].…”