TY - JOUR PY - 2018// TI - Concussion history, hazardous drinking, and BrAC levels among a sample of bar patrons, 2015 JO - Substance use and misuse A1 - Martin, Ryan J. A1 - Chaney, Beth H. A1 - Lee, Joseph G. L. SP - 446 EP - 450 VL - 53 IS - 3 N2 - BACKGROUND: Alcohol consumption and experiencing a concussion are positively correlated. Concussion history has not been examined previously in any alcohol field study (i.e., conducted in a natural setting).

OBJECTIVE: To better understand the relationship between concussion history and alcohol consumption.

METHODS: We conducted two anonymous field studies among a 2015 sample of bar patrons (N = 544; 62.5% males) in a college town to assess concussion history and two alcohol consumption measures: (1) breath alcohol concentration (BrAC) levels and (2) hazardous drinking scores (based on the AUDIT-C). Next, we conducted a logistic regression analysis to predict concussion history using the two alcohol consumption measures and other potential covariates (i.e., age, gender, race, college student status).

RESULTS: Among participants in our sample, the average BrAC level was.070 (SD =.053) and the average hazardous drinking score was 4.7 (SD = 2.5). Less than half of participants indicated that they had experienced a concussion in their lifetime (235; 43.2%). The logistic regression model indicated that hazardous drinking scores were significantly, positively associated with having experienced a concussion, whereas other covariates (i.e., BrAC, age, gender, race, college student status) did not significantly predict concussion history.

CONCLUSIONS/Importance: Hazardous drinkers were more likely to have experienced a concussion. Therefore, the relationship found in this sample, between hazardous drinking behavior and concussion history, points to hazardous drinking as a possible risk factor for having had a concussion in the past.

Language: en

LA - en SN - 1082-6084 UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10826084.2017.1334068 ID - ref1 ER -