Injury-related medical care utilization in a problem drinking population.

Abstract

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.