J Korean Soc Emerg Med.  2023 Jun;34(3):209-219.

Relationship between blood alcohol concentration and clinical, sociodemographic patterns in drug intoxication patients

• Chung W
• Kang T

Abstract

Objective
Although alcohol and suicide are closely related, very few studies have investigated low levels of alcohol ingestion. This study analyzes the relationship between blood alcohol levels and clinical and sociodemographic patterns of intoxicated patients.
Methods
This was a retrospective study. Medical records of self-poisoning patients who visited the emergency department (ED) from March 2017 to June 2020 were investigated. Patients were divided into three groups according to the blood alcohol concentration (BAC): no alcohol group (NA; BAC<10 mg/dL), low alcohol group (LA: 10 mg/dL≤BAC<80 mg/dL), and high alcohol group (HA; BAC≥80 mg/dL). Ingested substances, sociodemographic factors, and clinical factors of the patient were examined. In addition, the poison severity score (PSS) and medical outcomes were also evaluated.
Results
This study enrolled 291 intoxicated patients comprising 167 in the NA group, 30 in the LA group, and 94 in the HA group. Considering the age, the proportion of the elderly was sequentially found in the order LA > NA > HA. Subjects in the LA group tended to have a lower income than the NA group. The pulse rate was found to be faster in the HA group than in the NA group. Compared to the LA and NA groups, subjects in the HA group underwent more cycles of deaddiction. Admissions were lesser in the LA group compared to the NA and HA groups.
Conclusion
Considering that subjects in the HA group underwent more deaddiction than the other groups and had more admissions than the LA group, emergency medical personnel should be alert when an intoxicated patient is completely drunk.

Keyword

Poisoning; Suicide; Alcohols