Saudi Journal of Emergency Medicine

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Original Article
SJEMed. 2021; 2(1): 48-53

Evolution of patients visiting the emergency department due to alcohol intoxication

Authors: Stephane Deman, Sandra Verelst, Ives Hubloue.

View PDF HTML Fulltext DOI: 10.24911/SJEMed/72-1591609876

Abstract

Background: Only a few studies investigated the evolution of characteristics of patients presenting at the emergency department (ED) due to alcohol intoxication. The aim of this study was to investigate the evolution of three patient characteristics: age, gender, and blood alcohol concentration (BAC). Methods: A retrospective review of medical records of patients visiting the ED at two large university hospitals in Belgium was performed. All patients older than 16 years, presenting to the ED with a primary diagnosis of alcohol intoxication in 2009 were compared with those presenting in 2014. Results: Both hospitals had a marked increase in visits due to alcohol intoxication. Male-to-female ratio in one hospital showed a redistribution toward women, whereas this remained stable in the other hospital. Average BAC remained stable in both sexes and hospitals. More severe BAC-levels (>3 g/l) diminished in male patients of one hospital but kept stable in women. The other hospital showed no change in more severe BAC-levels (>3 g/l) of both sexes. Conclusion: Since total alcohol consumption in Belgium decreased, but total number of alcohol intoxicated patients increased in both hospitals, there probably has been a change in alcohol consumption pattern. Changes in the characteristics of patients visiting the ED due to alcohol intoxication still turns out to be demographic dependent, since the tendency of more young patients presenting could only be observed in one out of two hospitals. Implementing a screening method for alcohol abuse should be considered at the ED.

Keywords:   alcohol intoxication, evolution of characteristics, age distribution, gender, blood alcohol concentration


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Open access Creative Commons License
Evolution of patients visiting the emergency department due to alcohol intoxication


Authors
Stephane Deman
Department of Emergency Medicine and Research Group on Emergency and Disaster Medicine, University Hospital Brussels, Jette, Belgium
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Sandra Verelst
Emergency Department, University Hospital Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
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Ives Hubloue
Department of Emergency Medicine and Research Group on Emergency and Disaster Medicine, University Hospital Brussels, Jette, Belgium
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Correspondence to:
. Stephane Deman, Department of Emergency Medicine and Research Group on Emergency and Disaster Medicine, University Hospital Brussels, Brussels, Belgium.; stephane_deman@hotmail.com

Publication history
Received 08 Jun 2020
Revised 19 Sep 2020
Accepted 26 Sep 2020
Published online 14 Oct 2020
Published in print 21 Jan 2021

How to cite this article

Pubmed Style

Deman S, Verelst S, Hubloue I. Evolution of patients visiting the emergency department due to alcohol intoxication. SJEMed. 2021; 2(1): 48-53. doi:10.24911/SJEMed/72-1591609876


Web Style

Deman S, Verelst S, Hubloue I. Evolution of patients visiting the emergency department due to alcohol intoxication. https://www.sjemed.com/?mno=113534 [Access: October 15, 2021]. doi:10.24911/SJEMed/72-1591609876


AMA (American Medical Association) Style

Deman S, Verelst S, Hubloue I. Evolution of patients visiting the emergency department due to alcohol intoxication. SJEMed. 2021; 2(1): 48-53. doi:10.24911/SJEMed/72-1591609876


Vancouver/ICMJE Style

Deman S, Verelst S, Hubloue I. Evolution of patients visiting the emergency department due to alcohol intoxication. SJEMed. (2021), [cited October 15, 2021]; 2(1): 48-53. doi:10.24911/SJEMed/72-1591609876


Harvard Style

Deman, S., Verelst, . S. & Hubloue, . I. (2021) Evolution of patients visiting the emergency department due to alcohol intoxication. SJEMed, 2 (1), 48-53. doi:10.24911/SJEMed/72-1591609876


Turabian Style

Deman, Stephane, Sandra Verelst, and Ives Hubloue. 2021. Evolution of patients visiting the emergency department due to alcohol intoxication. Saudi Journal of Emergency Medicine, 2 (1), 48-53. doi:10.24911/SJEMed/72-1591609876


Chicago Style

Deman, Stephane, Sandra Verelst, and Ives Hubloue. "Evolution of patients visiting the emergency department due to alcohol intoxication." Saudi Journal of Emergency Medicine 2 (2021), 48-53. doi:10.24911/SJEMed/72-1591609876


MLA (The Modern Language Association) Style

Deman, Stephane, Sandra Verelst, and Ives Hubloue. "Evolution of patients visiting the emergency department due to alcohol intoxication." Saudi Journal of Emergency Medicine 2.1 (2021), 48-53. Print. doi:10.24911/SJEMed/72-1591609876


APA (American Psychological Association) Style

Deman, S., Verelst, . S. & Hubloue, . I. (2021) Evolution of patients visiting the emergency department due to alcohol intoxication. Saudi Journal of Emergency Medicine, 2 (1), 48-53. doi:10.24911/SJEMed/72-1591609876


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