Alcohol interventions for trauma patients are not just for adults: justification for brief interventions for the injured adolescent at a pediatric trauma center
Abstract
Research on the rates of alcohol and drug misuse as well as developmentally appropriate screening and intervention approaches in a hospitalized pediatric trauma population are lacking. The purpose of this study was to identify the rate of alcohol misuse in an admitted trauma population of adolescents aged 11 years to 17 years and to identify key correlates of alcohol misuse in this population including age, gender, and injury severity. A prospective clinical study of 230 injured youth (aged 11-17 years) comprising both hospitalized and emergency department (ED) population was performed, and the patients were screened for the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT), blood alcohol levels (BALs), and drinking and driving index. The main outcome measures were rates of alcohol misuse characterized by a positive BAL or a positive AUDIT. Thirty percent hospitalized trauma patients screened positive for alcohol misuse. Five patients had a positive BAL without a positive AUDIT score. Binge drinking was the most commonly positive domain of the AUDIT tool. In hospitalized trauma patients who are older than 14 years (p = 0.005), it was significantly associated with a positive AUDIT score, but the injury severity score, gender, me...Continue Reading
References
Measurement of alcohol use and misuse in a cohort of students followed from grade 6 through grade 12
Citations
Emergency department alcohol and drug screening for Illinois pediatric trauma patients, 1999 to 2009
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