Ethyl alcohol levels in Turkish traffic accident cases

ABSTRACT

Objective

It has been demonstrated that alcohol continues to be the most prevalent reason causing traffic accidents. This study aimed to evaluate the alcohol levels in the traffic accident cases admitted to Ege University Hospital.

Methods

Blood samples of the 4,266 cases were analyzed with the enzymatic immunoassay method between 2016 and 2017. The data was obtained from the hospital automation system and analyzed statistically.

Results

Of all cases (n = 20,058) admitted to the hospital department, the rate of traffic accidents was 21.3% (n = 4,266). The mean age was 32.38 ± 12.4, and 70.4% of the cases were male. Ethyl alcohol was positive in 9.6% (n = 409) of the cases, and 33.1% (n = 136) of them were in the 25–34 age range. A significant increase was observed in 2017 compared to 2016 (p < 0.05). About 87.6% (n = 360) of the positive cases were above the legal limit of 0.50 g/L for drivers except for professional drivers. About 57.7% (n = 237) of the positive traffic accident cases were passengers, and 27.2% (n = 112) were motor vehicle and motorcycle drivers.

Conclusions

This paper presented an updated ethyl alcohol determination in the traffic accidents of the Izmir region in order to have an overall picture of Turkey. Continuous and systematic follow-up studies may help to monitor the alcohol use problem.

KEYWORDS:

• Alcohol
• traffic accident
• forensic toxicology
• toxicological analysis

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Melike Aydoğdu for her support during the study.

Disclosure statement

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

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) reported that there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.