© 2005 American Public Health Association DOI: 10.2105/AJPH.2003.031179
The authors are with the Alcohol Research Group, Public Health Institute, Berkeley, Calif. Correspondence: Requests for reprints should be sent to Cheryl J. Cherpitel, DrPH, Alcohol Research Group, 2000 Hearst Ave, Berkeley, CA 94709 (e-mail: ccherpitel{at}arg.org).
Objectives. We sought to determine gender- and age-specific attributable risks of all-cause and violence-related injuries associated with alcohol use. Methods. We used meta-analytic techniques to estimate attributable risks observed in emergency room studies conducted in 7 countries (n=17708). Results. In the case of both alcohol consumption before the injury event and individual drinking patterns, pooled attributable risk effect sizes for all-cause injuries were significant but minimal (2% to 6%). Effect sizes for violence-related injuries were 43% for drinking before an injury event and 27% for individual drinking pattern. Risks were greater for men, but no age-specific differences were found. Conclusions. This meta-analysis showed that attributable risk of injury is greater for drinking before the injury event than for drinking pattern; in addition, risks were more pronounced for violence-related injuries. Differences in risk were explained by variables related to sociocultural contexts. This article has been cited by other articles:
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