{"title":"Sober up: Time from last drink to a road traffic injury","authors":"Guilherme Borges, Ricardo Orozco","doi":"10.1016/j.alcohol.2023.11.008","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Purpose</h3><p>There is no intervention that quickly reduces a person's blood alcohol content (BAC). “Sober up before you drive” may prevent road traffic injury (RTI) caused by alcohol consumption. The aim of this study was to analyze the risk of RTI on an hourly basis (1–6 h) after the last drink and the determinants of this risk.</p></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><p>This was a case-crossover study of alcohol consumption among 430 patients who suffered an RTI and arrived at an emergency department in a large hospital in Mexico City from January to April 2022.</p></div><div><h3>Results</h3><p>Of the 430 patients studied, 46 reported drinking within 1 h before the RTI, for a risk ratio (RR) of 7.7 (95% CI [5.6, 10.4]). This RR decreased to 2.2 (95% CI [1.3, 3.7]) for the 12 patients drinking in the second hour before the RTI and was null for those drinking earlier (<em>p</em> ≤ 0.001 for the trend). The induction time was 3 h among those with higher BAC and intoxication levels. The RR for an RTI decreases 71% from the first to second hour from the last drink and 32% from the second to third hour. This decrease was similar among those intoxicated and those with increased BACs. In multiple regression models, higher levels of intoxication and higher BACs remained associated with higher RRs.</p></div><div><h3>Discussion</h3><p>People should avoid driving after drinking. Waiting to drive, walking, or riding after drinking reduces the risk of an RTI, especially for people with higher BAC and intoxication levels.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":7712,"journal":{"name":"Alcohol","volume":"118 ","pages":"Pages 57-63"},"PeriodicalIF":2.5000,"publicationDate":"2023-11-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Alcohol","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0741832923003385","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"PHARMACOLOGY & PHARMACY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Purpose
There is no intervention that quickly reduces a person's blood alcohol content (BAC). “Sober up before you drive” may prevent road traffic injury (RTI) caused by alcohol consumption. The aim of this study was to analyze the risk of RTI on an hourly basis (1–6 h) after the last drink and the determinants of this risk.
Methods
This was a case-crossover study of alcohol consumption among 430 patients who suffered an RTI and arrived at an emergency department in a large hospital in Mexico City from January to April 2022.
Results
Of the 430 patients studied, 46 reported drinking within 1 h before the RTI, for a risk ratio (RR) of 7.7 (95% CI [5.6, 10.4]). This RR decreased to 2.2 (95% CI [1.3, 3.7]) for the 12 patients drinking in the second hour before the RTI and was null for those drinking earlier (p ≤ 0.001 for the trend). The induction time was 3 h among those with higher BAC and intoxication levels. The RR for an RTI decreases 71% from the first to second hour from the last drink and 32% from the second to third hour. This decrease was similar among those intoxicated and those with increased BACs. In multiple regression models, higher levels of intoxication and higher BACs remained associated with higher RRs.
Discussion
People should avoid driving after drinking. Waiting to drive, walking, or riding after drinking reduces the risk of an RTI, especially for people with higher BAC and intoxication levels.
期刊介绍:
Alcohol is an international, peer-reviewed journal that is devoted to publishing multi-disciplinary biomedical research on all aspects of the actions or effects of alcohol on the nervous system or on other organ systems. Emphasis is given to studies into the causes and consequences of alcohol abuse and alcoholism, and biomedical aspects of diagnosis, etiology, treatment or prevention of alcohol-related health effects.
Intended for both research scientists and practicing clinicians, the journal publishes original research on the neurobiological, neurobehavioral, and pathophysiological processes associated with alcohol drinking, alcohol abuse, alcohol-seeking behavior, tolerance, dependence, withdrawal, protracted abstinence, and relapse. In addition, the journal reports studies on the effects alcohol on brain mechanisms of neuroplasticity over the life span, biological factors associated with adolescent alcohol abuse, pharmacotherapeutic strategies in the treatment of alcoholism, biological and biochemical markers of alcohol abuse and alcoholism, pathological effects of uncontrolled drinking, biomedical and molecular factors in the effects on liver, immune system, and other organ systems, and biomedical aspects of fetal alcohol spectrum disorder including mechanisms of damage, diagnosis and early detection, treatment, and prevention. Articles are published from all levels of biomedical inquiry, including the following: molecular and cellular studies of alcohol''s actions in vitro and in vivo; animal model studies of genetic, pharmacological, behavioral, developmental or pathophysiological aspects of alcohol; human studies of genetic, behavioral, cognitive, neuroimaging, or pathological aspects of alcohol drinking; clinical studies of diagnosis (including dual diagnosis), treatment, prevention, and epidemiology. The journal will publish 9 issues per year; the accepted abbreviation for Alcohol for bibliographic citation is Alcohol.