Patient and injury characteristics for all major trauma patients in Victoria, N (%).
| Total (n=14 221) | No blood alcohol test (n=9658) | Blood alcohol test (n=4563) | P value* | ||
| Age (years) | 18 to 34 | 2934 (20.6) | 1572 (16.3) | 1362 (29.8) | <0.001 |
| 35 to 64 | 5187 (36.5) | 3101 (32.1) | 2086 (45.7) | ||
| ≥65 | 6100 (42.9) | 4985 (51.6) | 1115 (24.4) | ||
| Sex† | Male | 9774 (68.7) | 6312 (65.4) | 3462 (75.9) | <0.001 |
| Female | 4446 (31.3) | 3346 (34.6) | 1100 (24.1) | ||
| IRSAD quintile‡ | 5, least disadvantaged | 3442 (24.8) | 2102 (22.2) | 1340 (30.3) | <0.001 |
| 4 | 2465 (17.8) | 1665 (17.6) | 800 (18.1) | ||
| 3 | 2704 (19.5) | 1902 (20.1) | 802 (18.2) | ||
| 2 | 2413 (17.4) | 1737 (18.3) | 676 (15.3) | ||
| 1, most disadvantaged | 2859 (20.6) | 2061 (21.8) | 798 (18.1) | ||
| Preferred language | English | 13 098 (92.1) | 8734 (90.4) | 4364 (95.6) | <0.001 |
| Language other than English | 1123 (7.9) | 924 (9.6) | 199 (4.4) | ||
| Pre-existing mental health condition | No | 12 000 (84.4) | 8275 (85.7) | 3725 (81.6) | <0.001 |
| Yes | 2221 (15.6) | 1383 (14.3) | 838 (18.4) | ||
| Pre-existing substance use condition | No | 12 989 (91.3) | 9133 (94.6) | 3856 (84.5) | <0.001 |
| Yes | 1232 (8.7) | 525 (5.4) | 707 (15.5) | ||
| Smoking status | Non-smoker | 9853 (69.3) | 6976 (72.2) | 2877 (63.1) | <0.001 |
| Current smoker | 3269 (23.0) | 2168 (22.4) | 1101 (24.1) | ||
| Past smoker | 1099 (7.7) | 514 (5.3) | 585 (12.8) | ||
| Site of first admission | MTC1 | 3429 (24.1) | 507 (5.2) | 2922 (64.0) | <0.001 |
| MTC2 | 3422 (24.1) | 2352 (24.4) | 1070 (23.4) | ||
| Metropolitan trauma services | 2886 (20.3) | 2680 (27.7) | 206 (4.5) | ||
| Regional trauma services | 2416 (17.0) | 2229 (23.1) | 187 (4.1) | ||
| Other | 2068 (14.5) | 1890 (19.6) | 178 (3.9) | ||
| High-alcohol hours | No | 13 046 (91.7) | 9039 (93.6) | 4007 (87.8) | <0.001 |
| Yes | 1175 (8.3) | 619 (6.4) | 556 (12.2) | ||
| Cause of injury | Motor vehicle/motorcycle collision (drivers) | 2849 (20.0) | 1495 (15.5) | 1354 (29.7) | <0.001 |
| Motor vehicle/motorcycle collision (passengers) | 612 (4.3) | 331 (3.4) | 281 (6.2) | ||
| Other transport-related causes | 1592 (11.2) | 987 (10.2) | 605 (13.3) | ||
| Low falls | 5974 (35.0) | 4233 (43.8) | 741 (16.2) | ||
| High falls | 1714 (12.1) | 1059 (11.0) | 655 (14.4) | ||
| Flames/scalds/contact burns | 195 (1.4) | 81 (0.8) | 114 (2.5) | ||
| Animal-related | 406 (2.9) | 333 (3.4) | 73 (1.6) | ||
| Struck by or collided with an object or person | 914 (6.4) | 602 (6.2) | 312 (6.8) | ||
| Cutting/piercing object | 530 (3.7) | 291 (3.0) | 239 (5.2) | ||
| Other/unspecified | 435 (3.1) | 246 (2.5) | 189 (4.1) | ||
| Injury intent | Unintentional | 12 475 (87.7) | 8784 (91.0) | 3691 (80.9) | <0.001 |
| Intentional self-harm | 570 (4.0) | 249 (2.6) | 321 (7.0) | ||
| Interpersonal violence | 900 (6.3) | 485 (5.0) | 415 (9.1) | ||
| Could not be determined | 248 (1.7) | 125 (1.3) | 123 (2.7) | ||
| Other/unspecified | 28 (0.2) | 15 (0.2) | 13 (0.3) | ||
| Injury severity | Minor/moderate (ISS<16) | 5872 (41.3) | 4259 (44.1) | 1613 (35.3) | <0.001 |
| Severe (ISS 16–24) | 4753 (33.4) | 3199 (33.1) | 1554 (34.1) | ||
| Very severe (ISS>24) | 3596 (25.3) | 2200 (22.8) | 1396 (30.6) | ||
| GCS§ | 13–15 | 11 903 (86.0) | 8392 (89.9) | 3511 (78.0) | <0.001 |
| 9–12 | 754 (5.4) | 393 (4.2) | 361 (8.0) | ||
| 3–8 | 1182 (8.5) | 552 (5.9) | 630 (14.0) |
Values in bold font indicate statistically significant results.
*P values were derived from χ2 analyses
†n=1 missing
‡n=338 missing
§n=382 missing
GCS, Glasgow Coma Scale; IRSAD, Index of Relative Socioeconomic Advantage and Disadvantage; ISS, Injury Severity Score; MTC, major trauma centre.