Skip to content
Medical Health Aged Care

Alcohol and other drug use more prevalent in non-car injuries: study

Monash University 3 mins read

A higher percentage of people admitted to hospital for falls, self-harm and violence have used alcohol and other drugs than drivers admitted after car crashes, new research has found.

 

The Monash University-led study, believed to be Victoria’s first to analyse the alcohol and other drug use of trauma patients with non-transport injuries, has prompted calls for more prevention efforts.

Published in
Emergency Medicine Australasia, the project analysed valid pathology tests from 1,248 people treated by The Alfred trauma team for serious non-transport injuries from 1 July 2021 to 31 December 2022.

 

Of those admitted to hospital, 37.4 per cent tested positive for alcohol and other drugs. This included 68.7 per cent of those injured due to violence, 47.2 per cent hurt by self-harm and 32.6 per cent of those who’d had falls.

 

This compared to a previously reported figure of 28.7 per cent* of injured car drivers testing positive to alcohol and other drugs after hospital admission.

First author and Monash School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine PhD candidate Georgina Lau said the figures showed that prevention efforts should also target non-transport incidents such as falls, self-harm and violence.

 

“Traditionally, the focus of prevention efforts for alcohol and drug-related injuries has focused almost exclusively on drink and drug driving,” Ms Lau said.

 

“Meanwhile, the role of alcohol and other drugs in non-transport injury causes such as falls, self-harm, and violence, has been largely overlooked in existing national strategies and prevention efforts, even though these causes account for 66 per cent of serious injuries**.

 

“The results of this study demonstrate that alcohol and other drugs are substantially more common in these non-transport injury causes.”

 

Conducted with several Alfred Health emergency and trauma experts, the study also found that of those who presented to The Alfred with serious injuries from a non-transport event:

  • Alcohol was the most commonly detected substance (25.1 per cent), followed by cannabinoids, (14.1 per cent), benzodiazepines, (13.4 per cent), amphetamine-type substances (10.9 per cent), opioids (3.8 per cent) and cocaine (2.3 per cent).
  • 61.8 per cent of those injured on Friday and Saturday nights tested positive for alcohol or other drugs.
  • 39.8 per cent of those injured in low falls (falls from standing or a height less than one metre) and 27.6 per cent of those injured in high falls (falls from a height more than one metre) tested positive to alcohol or other drugs. The combined figure was 32.6 per cent.


Ms Lau said there was limited recent knowledge about the proportion of injuries that involved alcohol and other drugs in Australia.


“Alcohol and drug-related injuries are associated with substantial costs for the people who are injured, as well as for the healthcare system and the economy,” she said.

 

“This study has provided novel and up to date insights into the high proportion of injuries that involve alcohol and other drugs. These findings are crucial for informing future research and identifying areas where we can focus future injury prevention strategies.”

 

Professor Biswadev Mitra, co-author and Emergency Physician at The Alfred Emergency & Trauma Centre said that the exposure to alcohol and other drugs added a substantial degree of complexity to assessing and managing injured patients.

 

“Highlighting the association of alcohol and other drugs with major trauma is an essential step to empowering people with the knowledge of the high risks and cost of substance use,” he said.  


Senior author and Head of Sustainable Mobility and Safety Research, Associate Professor Ben Beck, said the findings highlighted the substantial role of alcohol and other drugs in injury events.

 

“There is a clear need to prioritise the prevention of alcohol and other drug-related injuries in national strategies and to develop countermeasures to prevent these injuries from occurring,” he said.

 

*Australian Journal of Forensic Sciences: Prevalence of drugs in injured drivers in Victoria, Australia

Matthew DiRago et al, 2019

**Victorian State Trauma System and Registry annual report 2020-2021.

 

For media enquiries please contact:

 

Monash University

Cheryl Critchley - Communications Manager (medical)
E:
cheryl.critchley@monash.edu

T: +61 (0) 418 312 596

 

For more Monash media stories, visit our news and events site 


For general media enquiries please contact:
Monash Media
E: 
media@monash.edu
T: +61 (0) 3 9903 4840

 

***ENDS***

 

More from this category

  • Environment, Medical Health Aged Care
  • 01/12/2023
  • 10:43
West Australian doctors peak bodies

WA doctors and health professionals call for the government to take urgent action on climate change and end fossil fuel expansion to protect health

On the 1st December, just prior to the COP28 Health Day on the 3rd December, representatives of the medical colleges for general practitioners (GPs), emergency doctors, rural and remote doctors, and surgeons, as well as other doctors and health professionals, gather at 8 am on the steps of Parliament House to call on the WA Government take urgent action on climate change and protect the health of Western Australians. Reiterating calls from medical colleges earlier this year in support of ending fossil fuel expansion and climate action, those gathered today ask the WA government to: End expansion of any new…

  • Medical Health Aged Care
  • 01/12/2023
  • 10:12
Australian Dental Industry Association

ADIA congratulates Senators of the Inquiry into the Provision of and Access to Dental Services in Australia

1 December The Australian Dental Industry Association congratulates the Senators of the Senate Select Committee Inquiry into the Provision of and Access to Dental…

  • Contains:
  • Medical Health Aged Care, Research Development
  • 01/12/2023
  • 09:17
Aegros

Aegros Releases Top-Line Interim Clinical Trial Results of its COVID-19 Hyperimmune

Aegros Releases Top-Line Interim Clinical Trial Results of its COVID-19 Hyperimmune Aegros, an Australian clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company leader in the development and manufacture of plasma derived medicinal products (PDMPs), today announced positive top-line interim results from its CHAT clinical trial. Top-line interim results indicate that Aegros’ COVID-19 hyperimmune provides higher levels of antibodies compared to high-titer convalescent plasma. These results are in line with Aegros’ pre-clinical expectations. CHAT compared Aegros’ COVID-19 hyperimmune to COVID-19 convalescent plasma. The hyperimmune was manufactured using Aegros’ patented Haemafrac® process. A hyperimmune is an intravenous immunoglobulin rich in antibodies that can provide passive immunity for…

Media Outreach made fast, easy, simple.

Feature your press release on Medianet's News Hub every time your distribute with Medianet. Pay per release or save with a subscription.