The Impaired Driver: Hospital and Police Detection of Alcohol and Other Drugs of Abuse in Motor Vehicle Crashes

Orsay, Elizabeth; Doan-Wiggins, Lynnette; Lewis, Richard; Lucke, R E; Ramakrishnan, Viswanathan

doi:10.1016/s0196-0644(94)70162-8

Cited by 33 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…The prevalence of drug use in injured drivers has been studied in several European countries as part of the Driving Under the Influence of Drugs (DRUID) project, 19–21 as well as in Australia 22 and Hong Kong. 23 North American studies of the prevalence of drug use in injured drivers have been conducted in Toronto (1993), 24 Colorado (2001), 25 Chicago (1994) 26 and Baltimore (2005). 27 A recent study from Halifax and Toronto (2014) reported the prevalence of recent alcohol or cannabis use in injured drivers but did not report the prevalence of other drugs.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Prevalence of alcohol and drug use in injured British Columbia drivers

Brubacher

Chan

Martz³

et al. 2016

BMJ Open

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ObjectivesDetermine the prevalence of drug use in injured drivers and identify associated demographic factors and crash characteristics.DesignProspective cross-sectional study.SettingSeven trauma centres in British Columbia, Canada (2010–2012).ParticipantsAutomobile drivers who had blood obtained within 6 h of a crash.Main outcome measuresWe analysed blood for cannabis, alcohol and other impairing drugs using liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry (LCMS).Results1097 drivers met inclusion criteria. 60% were aged 20–50 years, 63.2% were male and 29.0% were admitted to hospital. We found alcohol in 17.8% (15.6% to 20.1%) of drivers. Cannabis was the second most common recreational drug: cannabis metabolites were present in 12.6% (10.7% to 14.7%) of drivers and we detected Δ-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (Δ-9-THC) in 7.3% (5.9% to 9.0%), indicating recent use. Males and drivers aged under 30 years were most likely to use cannabis. We detected cocaine in 2.8% (2.0% to 4.0%) of drivers and amphetamines in 1.2% (0.7% to 2.0%). We also found medications including benzodiazepines (4.0% (2.9% to 5.3%)), antidepressants (6.5% (5.2% to 8.1%)) and diphenhydramine (4.7% (3.5% to 6.2%)). Drivers aged over 50 years and those requiring hospital admission were most likely to have used medications. Overall, 40.1% (37.2% to 43.0%) of drivers tested positive for alcohol or at least one impairing drug and 12.7% (10.7% to 14.7%) tested positive for more than one substance.ConclusionsAlcohol, cannabis and a broad range of other impairing drugs are commonly detected in injured drivers. Alcohol is well known to cause crashes, but further research is needed to determine the impact of other drug use, including drug–alcohol and drug–drug combinations, on crash risk. In particular, more work is needed to understand the role of medications in causing crashes to guide driver education programmes and improve public safety.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Prevalence of alcohol and drug use in injured British Columbia drivers

Brubacher

Chan

Martz³

et al. 2016

BMJ Open

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“…Orsay et al found that despite being able to link over 70% of hospital admission records to LE records at a major trauma centre in Chicago, Illinois, LE had identified only 31.2% of injured motorists with blood alcohol concentrations above the legal limit and 15% of injured motorists with a positive drug screen 24. In New South Wales, Australia, using linked HS and LE records, Brown and Bilson identified the increased risk of severe injuries to rear seat passengers when compared with front seat drivers and passengers 25…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Health system and law enforcement synergies for injury surveillance, control and prevention: a scoping review

et al. 2017

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Background Healthcare providers and law enforcement (LE) officers are among the most common first responders to injuring events. Despite frequent interface between the health system (HS) and LE sectors, the published evidence that supports their collaboration in injury surveillance, control and prevention has not been comprehensively reviewed. Methods We conducted a scoping review of literature published from 1990 to 2016 that focused on local and regional HS and LE collaborations in injury surveillance, control and prevention. Our aim was to describe what is known and what remains unexplored about these cross-sector efforts. Results 128 articles were included in the final review. These were categorised by their focus on either surveillance activities or partnerships in injury control and prevention programmes. The majority of surveillance articles focused on road traffic injuries. Conversely, articles describing partnerships and programme evaluations primarily targeted the prevention of interpersonal violence. Discussion This review yielded two major findings: overall, the combination of HS and LE injury data added value to surveillance systems, especially as HS data augmented LE data; and HS and LE partnerships have been developed to improve injury control and prevention. However, there are few studies that have evaluated the impact and sustainability of these partnerships. Conclusions The current evidence to support HS and LE collaboration in injury surveillance and control and prevention programmes is heterogeneous. Notable gaps suggest ample opportunity for further research and programme evaluation across all types of injury.

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“…Cabe destacar que si bien el alcohol es sumamente pernicioso para los conductores, el abuso de las drogas también los afectan en gran medida. 21 Respecto a la combinación de cocaína y alcohol, de los 20 casos que resultaron positivos al consumo de ésta y/o de bazuco, la mitad se asoció con el consumo de alcohol; entre los cuatro sujetos positivos a cocaína, bazuco y/o marihuana, un caso estuvo asociado con la ingesta de alcohol, la cual fue determinada por observación del estado en que ingresaba el paciente y por el cuestionario aplicado. Al relacionar causa de ingreso y resultado de laboratorio no se obtuvo una asociación significativa desde el punto de vista estadístico.…”

Section: Resultsunclassified

Prevalencia del consumo de drogas en pacientes atendidos en urgencias de adultos

Fuentes¹,

Medina-Orozco²,

Rojas³

1998

Salud pública Méx

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Objective. To determine the association between patient admission due to trauma and the consumption of marihuana, cocaine and bazooka (basic cocaine paste) at the Central Hospital of Valencia, Venezuela. Material and methods. 148 subjects were studied who had entered the emergency room due to lesions caused by aggression (AL), traffic accidents (TA), work-related accidents (WRA), selfinflicted injury (SII) and intoxication (INT). A questionnaire was applied and toxicology analyses performed. Results. Drug consumption, alone or in combination, was found in 23.6% of individuals (13.5% cocaine, 7.4% marihuana and 2.7% both). Of the cocaine positive, 50% entered for AL, 20% for INT, 10% for SII, 5% for WRA and 15% for other causes. Of the marihuana positive, 36.4% entered for TA, followed by 27.3% for WRA, 18.18% for AL, 9.09% for INT and 9.09% for other causes. For combined drug consumption, entries for AL were 75% and for WRA, 25%. Alcohol consumption associated to cocaine was 50%, to marihuana, 9% and to combined drugs, 25%. Conclusions. These results show that one of every four hospital admissions for trauma is associated to drug abuse, alone or in combination. This reveals a close cause-effect relationship between the use of psychoactive drugs and trauma.

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The Impaired Driver: Hospital and Police Detection of Alcohol and Other Drugs of Abuse in Motor Vehicle Crashes

Cited by 33 publications

References 14 publications

Prevalence of alcohol and drug use in injured British Columbia drivers

Prevalence of alcohol and drug use in injured British Columbia drivers

Health system and law enforcement synergies for injury surveillance, control and prevention: a scoping review

Prevalencia del consumo de drogas en pacientes atendidos en urgencias de adultos

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