TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2004//
TI  - The saliva strip test is an accurate method to determine blood alcohol concentration in trauma patients
JO  - Academic emergency medicine
A1  - Degutis, Linda C.
A1  - Rabinovici, Reuven
A1  - Sabbaj, Alfredo
A1  - Mascia, Rebecca
A1  - D'Onofrio, Gail
SP  - 885
EP  - 887
VL  - 11
IS  - 8
N2  - OBJECTIVES: To determine the accuracy of alcohol saliva testing (AST) in trauma patients. METHODS: Blood alcohol concentration (BAC) was measured by using both AST (QED A350; STC Technologies, Bethlehem, PA) and blood serum levels in 100 trauma patients admitted to the emergency department of an urban Level 1 trauma center. RESULTS: All 41 patients who tested positive for BAC on AST (mean [+/-SD]: 167.9 +/- 16.16; range: 20-350 mg/dL) also tested positive on serum determination (mean: 197.6 +/- 13.79; range: 22-446 mg/dL). Correlation between the two positive tests was significant (0.879, p < 0.001). Of the remaining 61 patients, 59 tested negative on both tests, while two patients with BACs of <30 mg/dL tested negative on the AST. For 18 patients with blood in the oropharynx, there was a correlation of 0.976 (p < 0.001, two-tailed) between serum and AST tests. CONCLUSIONS: The AST method of measuring BAC in trauma patients is accurate. Blood in the oral cavity did not appear to affect the accuracy of the test.<p /> <p>Language: en</p> 
LA  - en
SN  - 1069-6563
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/
ID  - ref1
ER  -