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Effect of alcohol use on emergency department length of stay among minimally injured patients based on mechanism of injury: multicenter observational study
Article in English | WPRIM (Western Pacific) | ID: wpr-713325
Responsible library: WPRO
ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE:

This study aimed to evaluate the effect of alcohol use on emergency department (ED) length of stay (LOS) among minimally injured patients by mechanism of injury.

METHODS:

This was a retrospective study of injury surveillance data for injured patients (except poisoning), aged over 18 years, discharged home from the ED, and treated at seven academic EDs in Korea during 2008 to 2012. Patients were divided into alcohol-related and alcohol-unrelated groups based on self-report. We used multivariable quantile regression models for the analysis and adjusted covariates including age, sex, consciousness status, severity of injury, emergency medical service use, the season, day and time of visit, and hospital. To determine if there were different effects of alcohol use across mechanism of injury, all analyses were stratified by each mechanism.

RESULTS:

Among 192,200 patients, 95,807 patients were analyzed. The number of participants in the alcohol-related group was 16,249 (17.0%). In the multivariable quantile regression model, the alcohol-related group had significantly longer ED LOS at the 10th (7 minutes; 95% confidence interval [CI], 6 to 8), 50th (21 minutes; 95% CI, 19 to 23), and 90th (81 minutes; 95% CI, 74 to 87) percentiles when compared to the alcohol-unrelated group. The effect of alcohol use on increased ED LOS was most prominent in motor vehicle injuries.

CONCLUSION:

We found that alcohol use was associated with increased emergency ED LOS. Furthermore, if we limited our attention to the effect of alcohol use on the number of patients, the burden of alcohol use on the ED would have been underestimated.
Subject(s)

Full text: Available Health context: SDG3 - Target 3D Strengthen the capacity for early warning, risk reduction and management of national and global health risks / SDG3 - Health and Well-Being / SDG3 - Target 3.6 Reduce deaths and the trauma caused by road accidents Health problem: Societal Hazards / Target 3.6: Reduce deaths and the trauma caused by road accidents / Substance Abuse and Road Accidents / Post-crash Response Database: WPRIM (Western Pacific) Main subject: Seasons / Wounds and Injuries / Retrospective Studies / Consciousness / Motor Vehicles / Emergencies / Emergency Medical Services / Emergency Service, Hospital / Observational Study / Korea Type of study: Observational study Limits: Humans Country/Region as subject: Asia Language: English Journal: Clinical and Experimental Emergency Medicine Year: 2018 Document type: Article
Full text: Available Health context: SDG3 - Target 3D Strengthen the capacity for early warning, risk reduction and management of national and global health risks / SDG3 - Health and Well-Being / SDG3 - Target 3.6 Reduce deaths and the trauma caused by road accidents Health problem: Societal Hazards / Target 3.6: Reduce deaths and the trauma caused by road accidents / Substance Abuse and Road Accidents / Post-crash Response Database: WPRIM (Western Pacific) Main subject: Seasons / Wounds and Injuries / Retrospective Studies / Consciousness / Motor Vehicles / Emergencies / Emergency Medical Services / Emergency Service, Hospital / Observational Study / Korea Type of study: Observational study Limits: Humans Country/Region as subject: Asia Language: English Journal: Clinical and Experimental Emergency Medicine Year: 2018 Document type: Article
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