Relationship between blood alcohol concentration and clinical, sociodemographic patterns in drug intoxication patients

Chung, Woosik; Kang, Taekyung

J Korean Soc Emerg Med > Volume 34(3); 2023 > Article

Original Article

Journal of The Korean Society of Emergency Medicine 2023;34(3): 209-219.

약물 음독 환자에서 혈중 알코올 농도와 임상, 사회인구학적 양상과의 관계

정우식

, 강태경

인제대학교 의과대학 응급의학교실

Relationship between blood alcohol concentration and clinical, sociodemographic patterns in drug intoxication patients

Woosik Chung

, Taekyung Kang

Department of Emergency Medicine, Inje University College of Medicine

Correspondence

Taekyung Kang ,Tel: 02-950-1119, Fax: 2-950-1932, Email: s2653@paik.ac.kr,

Received: July 31, 2022; Revised: September 23, 2022 Accepted: October 23, 2022. Published online: June 30, 2023.

ABSTRACT

Objective:
Although alcohol and suicide are closely related, very few studies have investigated low levels of alcohol ingestion. This study analyzes the relationship between blood alcohol levels and clinical and sociodemographic patterns of intoxicated patients.
Method:
This was a retrospective study. Medical records of self-poisoning patients who visited the emergency department (ED) from March 2017 to June 2020 were investigated. Patients were divided into three groups according to the blood alcohol concentration (BAC): no alcohol group (NA; BAC<10 mg/dL), low alcohol group (LA: 10 mg/dL≤BAC<80 mg/dL), and high alcohol group (HA; BAC≥80 mg/dL). Ingested substances, sociodemographic factors, and clinical factors of the patient were examined. In addition, the poison severity score (PSS) and medical outcomes were also evaluated.
Results:
This study enrolled 291 intoxicated patients comprising 167 in the NA group, 30 in the LA group, and 94 in the HA group. Considering the age, the proportion of the elderly was sequentially found in the order LA > NA > HA. Subjects in the LA group tended to have a lower income than the NA group. The pulse rate was found to be faster in the HA group than in the NA group. Compared to the LA and NA groups, subjects in the HA group underwent more cycles of deaddiction. Admissions were lesser in the LA group compared to the NA and HA groups.
Conclusion:
Considering that subjects in the HA group underwent more deaddiction than the other groups and had more admissions than the LA group, emergency medical personnel should be alert when an intoxicated patient is completely drunk.

Key words: Poisoning; Suicide; Alcohols