• Georgina Lau, Biswadev Mitra, Belinda J Gabbe, Paul M Dietze, Sandra Reeder, Peter A Cameron, SmitDe VilliersV0000-0001-9627-779XSchool of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.Emergency and Trauma Centre, The Alfred Hospital, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.National Trauma Research Institute, The , Hans G Schneider, Evan Symons, Christine Koolstra, Cara Stewart, and Ben Beck.
• School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
• Emerg Med Australas. 2024 Feb 1; 36 (1): 788778-87.

ObjectiveTo measure the prevalence of alcohol and/or other drug (AOD) detections in suspected major trauma patients with non-transport injuries who presented to an adult major trauma centre.MethodsThis registry-based cohort study examined the prevalence of AOD detections in patients aged ≥18 years who: (i) sustained non-transport injuries; and (ii) met predefined trauma call-out criteria and were therefore managed by an interdisciplinary trauma team between 1 July 2021 and 31 December 2022. Prevalence was measured using routine in-hospital blood alcohol and urine drug screens.ResultsA total of 1469 cases met the inclusion criteria. Of cases with a valid blood test (n = 1248, 85.0%), alcohol was detected in 313 (25.1%) patients. Of the 733 (49.9%) cases with urine drug screen results, cannabinoids were most commonly detected (n = 103, 14.1%), followed by benzodiazepines (n = 98, 13.4%), amphetamine-type substances (n = 80, 10.9%), opioids (n = 28, 3.8%) and cocaine (n = 17, 2.3%). Alcohol and/or at least one other drug was detected in 37.4% (n = 472) of cases with either a blood alcohol or urine drug test completed (n = 1263, 86.0%). Multiple substances were detected in 16.6% (n = 119) of cases with both blood alcohol and urine drug screens (n = 718, 48.9%). Detections were prevalent in cases of interpersonal violence (n = 123/179, 68.7%) and intentional self-harm (n = 50/106, 47.2%), and in those occurring on Friday and Saturday nights (n = 118/191, 61.8%).ConclusionAOD detections were common in trauma patients with non-transport injury causes. Population-level surveillance is needed to inform prevention strategies that address AOD use as a significant risk factor for serious injury.© 2023 The Authors. Emergency Medicine Australasia published by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd on behalf of Australasian College for Emergency Medicine.

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