Trends in alcohol use during moderate and severe traumatic brain injury: 18 years of neurotrauma in Pennsylvania

Abstract

Primary objective: Alcohol is a known risk factor for TBI, yet little is known about how rates of alcohol use at time of injury differ across demographics and the stability of alcohol-related injury over time. Further, findings examining the relationship between alcohol and outcome are mixed. This study aimed to examine changes in alcohol-positive moderate-to-severe traumatic brain injury (+aTBI) over two decades with focus on demographic factors, changes in +aTBI frequency over time, mortality and acute outcome.

Methods: This retrospective study examined data collected from 1992–2009 by the Pennsylvania Trauma Outcome Study (PTOS).

Results: Results reveal that the proportion of +aTBI has been generally stable across years. However, there is an interaction of +aTBI incidence with mechanism of injury and age, with a downward trend in +aTBI within MVA and fall and individuals 18–30 and 71+ years. Further, consistent with several findings in the literature, alcohol was associated with higher rates of survival and better FSD scores during acute recovery.

Conclusions: This study discusses findings in the context of a greater literature on TBI-related alcohol and outcome. The injury-alcohol profiles highlighted could be used to inform future allocation of resources toward prevention of, intervention for and care of individuals who sustain TBI.

Keywords:

• Adult brain injury
• alcohol use
• traumatic brain injury

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the Pennsylvania Trauma Outcome Study, Nathan McWilliams, and Brandon Merritt for their contributions to this manuscript.

Declaration of interest

The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.