ArticleInjury epidemiology2021
Patterns of alcohol and drug utilization in trauma patients during the COVID-19 pandemic at six trauma centers.
Article in Injury epidemiology, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 12 papers.
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Who cites it
12 citing papers in PubMed, 27 citations in OpenAlex.
- National Trends and Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Trauma Patient Care in the United States.Cureus · 2025Article
- Validation of the Oklahoma predictor model for discharge destination in patients with major traumatic injury: a cross-sectional study.European journal of trauma and emergency surgery : official publication of the European Trauma Society · 2025Article
- Article
- Trends of Trauma Admissions in a Rural Trauma Center During Coronavirus Disease 2019 Pandemic.The Journal of surgical research · 2023Article
- Article
- Drug and Alcohol Use in Trauma Patients Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic.The Journal of surgical research · 2023Article
- Influence of the COVID-19 pandemic on the epidemiological profile of the initial care of victims of falls.Revista do Colegio Brasileiro de Cirurgioes · 2023Article
- Computational analyses identify addiction help-seeking behaviors on the social networking website Reddit: Insights into online social interactions and addiction support communities.PLOS digital health · 2022Article
- Increased proportion of alcohol-related trauma in a South London major trauma centre during lockdown: A cohort study.Chinese journal of traumatology = Zhonghua chuang shang za zhi · 2022Article
- Trauma trends during COVID-19 alcohol prohibition at a South African regional hospital.Drug and alcohol review · 2022Article
- Trauma center risk conditions for blood alcohol-positive and alcohol misuse patients: a retrospective study.International journal of burns and trauma · 2022Article
- Examining trends in gun violence injuries before and during the COVID-19 pandemic across six trauma centers.Trauma surgery & acute care open · 2022Article
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Authors and funding
9 authors at 7 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundSince the national stay-at-home order for COVID-19 was implemented, clinicians and public health authorities worldwide have expressed growing concern about the potential repercussions of drug and alcohol use due to social restrictions. We explored the impact of the national stay-at-home orders on alcohol or drug use and screenings among trauma admissions.
methodsThis was a retrospective cohort study at six Level I trauma centers across four states. Patients admitted during the period after the onset of the COVID-19 restrictions (defined as March 16, 2020-May 31, 2020) were compared with those admitted during the same time period in 2019. We compared 1) rate of urine drug screens and blood alcohol screens; 2) rate of positivity for drugs or alcohol (blood alcohol concentration ≥ 10 mg/dL); 3) characteristics of patients who were positive for drug or alcohol, by period using chi-squared tests or Fisher's exact tests, as appropriate. Two-tailed tests with an alpha of p < 0.05 was used on all tests.
resultsThere were 4762 trauma admissions across the study period; 2602 (55%) in 2019 and 2160 (45%) in 2020. From 2019 to 2020, there were statistically significant increases in alcohol screens (34% vs. 37%, p = 0.03) and drug screens (21% vs. 26%, p < 0.001). Overall, the rate of alcohol positive patients significantly increased from 2019 to 2020 (32% vs. 39%, p = 0.007), while the rate of drug positive patients was unchanged (57% vs. 52%, p = 0.13). Of the 1025 (22%) patients who were positive for alcohol or drugs, there were significant increases in a history of alcoholism (41% vs. 26%, p < 0.001), and substance abuse (11% vs. 23%, p < 0.001) in the 2020 period. No other statistically significant differences were identified among alcohol or drug positive patients during COVID-19 compared to the same period in 2019.
conclusionsOur first wave of COVID-19 data suggests that trauma centers were admitting significantly more patients who were alcohol positive, as well those with substance use disorders, potentially due to the impact of social restrictions and guidelines. Further longitudinal research is warranted to assess the alcohol and drug positive rates of trauma patients over the COVID-19 pandemic.
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