Abstract
An epidemiological survey was carried out in France in 1982-3 to study the proportions of occasional and chronic drinkers among people injured in accidents of all kinds. The characteristics of 4796 victims recruited in the emergency units of 21 hospitals were recorded. Systematic blood sampling was performed to determine the blood alcohol concentration and two markers of chronic alcohol consumption--gamma-glutamyltransferase activity and mean corpuscular volume. Alcohol was present in the blood of 35% of the injured people, with concentrations exceeding 17.4 mmol/l (0.8 g/l) in one man out of four and in one woman out of 10. gamma-Glutamyltransferase values and mean corpuscular volume were also much higher than in a reference population of healthy subjects, indicating that most of the intoxicated subjects were probably chronic drinkers. This was confirmed by a discriminant analysis which showed an overall proportion of 30% of chronic drinkers among casualties. In France, therefore, the policy for preventing accidents should focus on chronic as much as on occasional drinking.
Full text
PDF
Selected References
These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.
- Blanc J. L., Genot A., Lyoen M., Vignon H. Alcoolémie et traumatologie dans le cadre du S.A.M.U. 42. Ann Anesthesiol Fr. 1980;21(2):165–169. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Dunbar J. A., Ogston S. A., Ritchie A., Devgun M. S., Hagart J., Martin B. T. Are problem drinkers dangerous drivers? An investigation of arrest for drinking and driving, serum gamma glutamyltranspeptidase activities, blood alcohol concentrations, and road traffic accidents: the Tayside Safe Driving Project. Br Med J (Clin Res Ed) 1985 Mar 16;290(6471):827–830. doi: 10.1136/bmj.290.6471.827. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Kastrup M., Dupont A., Bille M., Lund H. Drunken drivers in Denmark. A nationwide epidemiological study of psychiatric patients, alcohol and traffic accidents. J Stud Alcohol. 1983 Jan;44(1):47–56. doi: 10.15288/jsa.1983.44.47. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- McDermott F. T., Hughes E. S. Compulsory blood alcohol testing of road crash casualties in Victoria: the second three years (1978-1980). Med J Aust. 1982 Apr 3;1(7):294–296. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Papoz L., Warnet J. M., Péquignot G., Eschwege E., Claude J. R., Schwartz D. Alcohol consumption in a healthy population. Relationship to gamma-glutamyl transferase activity and mean corpuscular volume. JAMA. 1981 May 1;245(17):1748–1751. doi: 10.1001/jama.245.17.1748. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Szasz G. A kinetic photometric method for serum gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase. Clin Chem. 1969 Feb;15(2):124–136. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Vine J., Watson T. R. Incidence of drug and alcohol intake in road traffic accident victims. Med J Aust. 1983 Jun 25;1(13):612–615. doi: 10.5694/j.1326-5377.1983.tb136248.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]