Table 1.
Demographic characteristics of trauma patients tested for drugs and alcohol during pre-COVID and COVID periodsa
| Characteristic | Pre-COVID period (N = 740) | COVID period (N = 725) | Total (N = 1465) | p-value | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mean | SD | Mean | SD | Mean | SD | ||
| Age (years) | 46.1 | 20.0 | 44.5 | 19.4 | 45.3 | 19.7 | 0.133 |
| BAC (mg/dl)b | 0.03 | 0.07 | 0.03 | 0.08 | 0.03 | 0.07 | 0.159 |
| N | % | N | % | N | % | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sex | 0.096 | ||||||
| Male | 406 | 54.9 | 429 | 59.2 | 835 | 57.0 | |
| Female | 334 | 45.1 | 296 | 40.8 | 630 | 43.0 | |
| Vehicle driver | 0.755 | ||||||
| Yes | 471 | 84.1 | 580 | 83.5 | 1051 | 83.7 | |
| No | 89 | 15.9 | 115 | 16.5 | 204 | 16.3 | |
| Missing | 180 | 30 | 210 | ||||
| Seatbelt worn | 0.626 | ||||||
| Yes | 434 | 71.5 | 459 | 72.7 | 893 | 72.1 | |
| No | 173 | 28.5 | 172 | 27.3 | 345 | 27.8 | |
| Missing | 133 | 94 | 227 | ||||
| Weekend admittance | 0.848 | ||||||
| Yes | 211 | 28.5 | 210 | 29.0 | 421 | 28.7 | |
| No | 529 | 71.5 | 515 | 71.0 | 1044 | 71.3 | |
| Season of admittance | < 0.0001 | ||||||
| December–February | 216 | 29.2 | 97 | 13.4 | 313 | 21.4 | |
| March–May | 149 | 20.1 | 185 | 25.5 | 334 | 22.8 | |
| June–August | 129 | 17.4 | 263 | 36.3 | 392 | 26.8 | |
| September–November | 246 | 33.2 | 180 | 24.8 | 426 | 29.1 | |
| Injury severity score | 0.697 | ||||||
| 1–15 | 588 | 79.5 | 582 | 80.3 | 1170 | 79.9 | |
| ≥ 16 | 152 | 20.5 | 143 | 19.7 | 295 | 20.1 | |
| Mental health conditionC | 0.683 | ||||||
| Yes | 274 | 37.0 | 261 | 36.0 | 535 | 36.5 | |
| No | 466 | 63.0 | 464 | 64.0 | 930 | 63.5 | |
| Alcohol use disorder | 0.163 | ||||||
| Yes | 40 | 5.4 | 52 | 7.2 | 92 | 6.3 | |
| No | 700 | 94.6 | 673 | 92.8 | 1373 | 93.7 | |
| Substance use disorder/chronic drug abuse | 0.001 | ||||||
| Yes | 87 | 11.8 | 130 | 17.9 | 217 | 14.8 | |
| No | 653 | 88.2 | 595 | 82.1 | 1248 | 85.2 | |
| Alcohol positive | 0.700 | ||||||
| Yes | 123 | 16.6 | 126 | 17.4 | 249 | 17.0 | |
| No | 617 | 83.4 | 599 | 82.6 | 1216 | 83.0 | |
| Drug positive | 0.072 | ||||||
| Yes | 392 | 53.0 | 418 | 57.7 | 810 | 55.3 | |
| No | 348 | 47.0 | 307 | 42.3 | 655 | 44.7 | |
| Drug and alcohol positive | 0.266 | ||||||
| Yes | 63 | 8.5 | 74 | 10.2 | 137 | 9.3 | |
| No | 677 | 91.5 | 651 | 89.8 | 1328 | 90.7 | |
| Number of non-alcohol drugs detected | 0.003 | ||||||
| 0 | 348 | 47.0 | 307 | 42.3 | 655 | 44.7 | |
| 1 | 250 | 33.8 | 217 | 29.9 | 467 | 31.9 | |
| 2 | 96 | 13.0 | 132 | 18.2 | 228 | 15.6 | |
| ≥ 3 | 46 | 6.2 | 69 | 9.5 | 115 | 7.9 |
BAC, blood alcohol concentration; N, frequency; SD, standard deviation
aPre-COVID period was defined as September 1, 2018–March 15, 2020, while COVID period was defined as March 16, 2020–September 30, 2021. Drugs exclude those that were received as part of pre-hospital care
bBACs presented in table are for the overall population, which included those who tested 0 mg/dl for alcohol. Among those who tested positive for any alcohol (i.e., ≥ 0.01 mg/dl), the mean (SD) for pre-COVID period was 0.17 (0.09); COVID period = 0.18 (0.08); total = 0.17 (0.09)
CMental health conditions include individuals with alcohol use disorder, substance use disorder, chronic drug abuse, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, psychiatric illness, mental/personality disorder, or dementia