Driving under the Influence of Alcohol - Epidemiological Profile of the Victims in Mato Grosso State, Midwest Brazil

Abstract

Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC) refers to the amount of ethanol present in the blood of an individual. Ethanol is among the most common substances encountered in forensic toxicology because ethanol abuse is related to fatal traffic accidents and general anti-social behavior. The objective was to describe the profile of victims of fatal traffic accidents in the state of Mato Grosso between 2013 and 2015. We analyzed 3,045 case records from Mato Grosso state Official Public Forensic Institution, Politec. Positive results for the presence of ethanol in the blood of victims of fatal traffic accidents was higher for males 1,162 (83.1%), from 21 to 30 years of age, and occurred predominantly during the weekends. Traffic accidents in Cuiabá County had the highest mortality coefficient per 100 thousand inhabitants (28.9%) than the rest of the state. Regarding the months of the year, there was a homogenous distribution with a discrete predominance of cases in October, November and December. The incidents were more frequent between 22h, 8h and 11h/12h am. This study contributes not only for the identification of the individuals most likely to be involved in traffic accidents where ethanol was consumed, but also to subsidize public policies aimed towards intervening and raising awareness of damages due to association among driving and ethanol use or abuse. Brazilian Journal of Forensic Sciences, Medical Law and Bioethics 8(2):96-112 (2019) 97 M. Neves et al.