Objective: The association between alcohol consumption and increased injuries from falls is well established, but there is a lack of data on the prevalence of substance use by fall type. This study aims to describe the distribution of alcohol and drug involvement in injurious falls.

Methods: Using the 2019 National Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Information System data set, we identified 1 854 909 patients injured from falls requiring an EMS response and determined the fall location (eg, indoors or on street/sidewalk). We analysed data on the EMS clinician's notation of alcohol or drug involvement and Glasgow Coma Scale.

Results: Overall, for 7.4% of injurious falls, there was a notation of substance use: 6.5% for alcohol alone, 0.6% for drugs and 0.3% for alcohol and drugs. 21.2% of falls that occurred on a street or sidewalk had a notation of substance use. Substance use prevalence was highest, at 30.3%, in the age group 21-64 years, for falls occurring on streets and sidewalks, without syncope or heat illness as contributing factors. Reported substance use involvement was more frequent for men compared with women for each location type. Glasgow Coma Scale scores indicative of moderate or severe trauma were more prevalent among falls involving alcohol and/or drugs.

Conclusions: Overall, one in five injurious falls on streets and sidewalks and requiring EMS attention involved substance use, and these numbers likely underestimate the true burden. As cities seek to expand nightlife districts, design strategies to protect pedestrians from falls should be enacted.

Download full-text PDF

Source
http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/ip-2024-045447DOI Listing

Publication Analysis

Top Keywords

alcohol drug
12
injurious falls
12
falls
9
emergency medical
8
medical services
8
drug involvement
8
requiring ems
8
glasgow coma
8
notation substance
8
streets sidewalks
8

Similar Publications

Unlabelled: The large majority (over 70%) of American Indian adolescents who reside in cities rather than tribal lands or rural areas report relatively earlier onset of substance use and more harmful associated health effects, compared to their non-Native peers.

Objective: This study investigated multilevel ecodevelopmental influences on empirically derived patterns of substance use among urban American Indian adolescents.

Method: Data came from 8th, 10th, and 12th grade American Indian adolescents ( = 2,407) in metropolitan areas of Arizona.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Objectives: Improving quality of care for individuals with substance-related disorders (SRD) should be a priority considering SRD are associated with high morbidity. This study aimed to identify classes of individuals with SRD based on their clinical characteristics and the quality of outpatient care they received, and to verify whether better quality of care was associated with other respondent characteristics and more favorable subsequent outcomes.

Methods: Data came from the 2023-14 and 2015-16 Canadian Community Health Survey (N = 42,099), merged with administrative data from Quebec's health insurance registry.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Review on critical factor in monocyte adhesion: Nutrients.

Cytokine

January 2025

Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, Faculty of Health Sciences, Gazi University, Ankara 06490, Türkiye.

Endogenous and exogenous factors play a role in endothelial dysfunction. Inflammation, leukocyte adhesion-aggregation, abnormal vascular proliferation, atherosclerosis, and hypertension are among the endogenous factors. Another factor that affects endothelial dysfunction is exogenous factors such as drug treatments, smoking, alcohol, and nutrition.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Introduction: Substance use disorders, particularly alcohol use disorders, represent a significant public health problem, with adolescents particularly vulnerable to their adverse effects. This study examined the possible anxiolytic and antidepressant effects of biotin, a crucial vitamin for brain function, in attenuating the behavioral and neurobiological changes associated with alcohol withdrawal in adolescent rats.

Materials And Methods: Sixty male Sprague-Dawley rats were exposed to a 20% ethanol solution for 21 days, followed by a 21-day drug-free period to assess long-term behavioral and physiological changes.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Compounds containing the piperidine group are highly attractive as building blocks for designing new drugs. Functionalized piperidines are of significant interest due to their prevalence in the pharmaceutical field. Herein, 3-oxo-3-(piperidin-1-yl) propanenitrile has been synthesized, and piperidine-based sodium alginate/poly(vinyl alcohol) films have been prepared.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Want AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?

Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!