The objectives of this study were: 1) To measure intoxication among traffic related injured male victims using a breathalyzer, and 2) To estimate the risk of traffic injury after acute alcohol consumption using the case-crossover analysis. | JOURNAL OF SCIENCE, Hue University, N0 61, 2010 RISK OF ROAD TRAFFIC INJURY AFTER ALCOHOL CONSUMPTION IN VIETNAM Nguyen Minh Tam 1, 2, 4, Michael P Dunne2, 4, Peter S Hill3, Ross McD Young4, Pham Van Linh5, Jonathon Passmore6 1 2 School of Public Health, Queensland University of Technology, Australia 3 4 Hue College of Medicine and Pharmacy, Hue University, Vietnam School of Population Health, The University of Queensland, Australia Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation, Queensland University of Technology, Australia 5 Can Tho University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Vietnam 6 World Health Organization - Vietnam Country Office SUMMARY Traffic injury is among the leading causes of death in Vietnam. Alcohol use is likely to be an important contributing factor, but there is little local information. The objectives of this study were: 1) To measure intoxication among traffic related injured male victims using a breathalyzer, and 2) To estimate the risk of traffic injury after acute alcohol consumption using the case-crossover analysis. Methods: Male patients admitted to hospital following traffic injuries (n=480) were interviewed and their blood alcohol concentration (BAC) were measured. Risk of traffic injuries after drinking was estimated using case-crossover analysis. Results: of male traffic injury patients had a BAC over the legal limit () and were above . The odd-ratios of traffic injuries for patients who drank alcohol within 6 hours prior to injury was (95% CI = – ). The odds-ratios were and for patients who drank 4-5 drinks and ≥6 drinks respectively (p<). Conclusion: These data indicate that a high proportion of male accident victims have BAC far above the legal limit, and confirm that risk of injury follows a dose-response function. Keywords: alcohol, traffic injury, case-crossover, drink-driving 1. Introduction Road traffic injuries are a major global public health problem but .
