Citation

Hayman AV, Crandall ML. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2009; 6(12): 3097-3104.

Affiliation

Department of Surgery, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL 60611-2950, USA. a-hayman@md.northwestern.edu

Copyright

(Copyright © 2009, MDPI: Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute)

DOI

10.3390/ijerph6123097

PMID

20049248

PMCID

PMC2800336

Abstract

Trauma is the leading cause of death for Americans aged 1 to 45. Over a third of all fatal motor vehicle collisions and nearly eighty percent of completed suicides involve alcohol. Alcohol can be both a cause of traumatic injury as well as a confounding factor in the diagnosis and treatment of the injured patient. Fortunately, brief interventions after alcohol-related traumatic events have been shown to decrease both trauma recidivism and long-term alcohol use. This review will address the epidemiology of alcohol-related trauma, the influence of alcohol on mortality and other outcomes, and the role of prevention in alcohol-related trauma, within the confines of the clinical setting.

Language: en