Biases in blood alcohol testing among trauma patients in the ED impact surveillance for alcohol related injuries, according to results published in Emergency Medicine Journal. Georgina Lau, PhD-candidate, and colleagues examined data from 14,221 adults with major trauma. Blood alcohol tests were performed in 32.1% of cases. Receipt of a blood alcohol test was significantly associated with age, socioeconomic status, preferred language, pre existing mental health or substance use conditions, smoking, and Glasgow Coma Scale scores (P<0.05). Limiting analyses to a trauma center where blood alcohol testing was routine mitigated most biases. However, relative to patients injured while driving a motor vehicle/motorcycle, lower odds of testing were still observed for patients with injuries from flames/scalds/contact burns (adjusted OR [aOR]=0.33) and low falls (aOR=0.17). Higher odds were associated with pre-existing mental health (aOR=1.39) or substance use conditions (aOR=2.33) and living in a more disadvantaged area (most disadvantaged quintile relative to least disadvantaged quintile: aOR=2.30). “Routine alcohol testing after major trauma is needed to accurately inform epidemiology and the subsequent implementation of strategies for reducing alcohol- related injuries,” Lau and colleagues wrote.
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