INJURY-RELATED MEDICAL-CARE UTILIZATION IN A PROBLEM DRINKING POPULATION

Background. Population-based data on the overall risk of injury among problem drinkers are extremely limited. Methods. We conducted an eight-year study of injury-related medical care utilization for a group of problem drinkers (n = 3 729) enrolled in the health insurance plan of a large manufacturing firm with plants in a number of midwestern states. A comparison non-problem drinking cohort matched on age, gender, and number of years of enrollment with the same company plan was also utilized. Results. Problem drinkers utilized injury-related medical care at a rate 1.6 times that of the comparison group and experienced injury-related medical care costs which were three times as high. Increased risks were found for both men and women and for all ages studied. Conclusions. This study is one of the few to examine the overall incidence of fatal and non-fatal injuries among a large population of problem drinkers and provides evidence that higher medical care costs are associated with chronic alcohol use.