Alcohol-related non-fatal motor vehicle crash injury in the US from 2019 to 2022

ABSTRACT

Background: Information on recent alcohol-related non-fatal motor vehicle crash (MVC) injuries is limited.

Objectives: To analyze alcohol-related non-fatal MVC injuries, 2019–2022, considering COVID-19 and Stay-at-Home policies.

Methods: State-level counts of alcohol-related non-fatal MVC injuries (involving individuals age 15+) from Emergency Medical Services data in 18 US states, chosen for comprehensive coverage, were analyzed for the annual rate. The total non-fatal MVC injury count in each state served as the denominator. We used analysis of variance to evaluate annual rate changes from 2019 to 2022 and used robust Poisson regression to compare annual mean rates to the 2019 baseline, pre-pandemic, excluding Quarter 1 due to COVID-19’s onset in Quarter 2. Additional Poisson models compared rate changes by 2020 Stay-at-Home policies.

Results: Data from 18 states were utilized (N = 1,487,626, 49.5% male). When evaluating rate changes of alcohol-related non-fatal MVC injuries from period 1 (Q2–4 2019) through period 4 (Q2–4 2022), the rate significantly increased from period 1 (2019) to period 2 (2020) by 0.024 (p = .003), then decreased from period 2 to period 4 (2022) by 0.016 (p = .04). Compared to the baseline (period 1), the rate in period 2 was 1.27 times higher. States with a 2020 Stay-at-Home policy, compared to those without, had a 30% lower rate (p = .05) of alcohol-related non-fatal MVC injuries. States with partial and mandatory Stay-at-Home policies had a 5.2% (p = .01) and 10.5% (p < .001) annual rate decrease, respectively.

Conclusion: Alcohol-related non-fatal MVC injury rates increased initially (2019–2020) but decreased thereafter (2020–2022). Stay-at-home policies effectively reduced these rates.

KEYWORDS:

• Substance use
• motor vehicle crashes
• alcohol
• driving
• injury
• DUI

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health under Award Numbers [U01DA051126 (PI: Cottler) and T32DA035167 (PI: Cottler)]. Nae Yeon Won and Andrew McCabe are supported by the UF Substance Abuse Training Center in Public Health from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) of the National Institutes of Health [T32DA035167; PI, Linda Cottler]. The content is solely the authors’ responsibility and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.