Patient and injury characteristics for all major trauma patients who received definitive care at MTC1, n (%)
| Total (n=3429) | No blood alcohol test (n=507) | Blood alcohol test (n=2922) | P value* | ||
| Age (years) | 18 to 34 | 903 (26.3) | 89 (17.6) | 814 (27.9) | <0.001 |
| 35 to 64 | 1456 (42.5) | 135 (26.6) | 1321 (45.2) | ||
| ≥65 | 1070 (31.2) | 283 (55.8) | 787 (26.9) | ||
| Sex | Male | 2491 (72.7) | 313 (61.7) | 2178 (74.6) | <0.001 |
| Female | 937 (27.3) | 194 (38.3) | 743 (25.4) | ||
| IRSAD quintile† | 5, least disadvantaged | 1342 (40.5) | 311 (63.3) | 1031 (36.6) | <0.001 |
| 4 | 565 (17.1) | 70 (14.3) | 495 (17.6) | ||
| 3 | 486 (14.7) | 36 (7.3) | 450 (16.0) | ||
| 2 | 444 (13.4) | 41 (8.4) | 403 (14.3) | ||
| 1, most disadvantaged | 473 (14.3) | 33 (6.7) | 440 (15.6) | ||
| Preferred language | English | 3256 (95.0) | 452 (89.2) | 2804 (96.0) | <0.001 |
| Language other than English | 173 (5.0) | 55 (10.8) | 118 (4.0) | ||
| Pre-existing mental health condition | No | 2823 (82.3) | 429 (84.6) | 2394 (81.9) | 0.14 |
| Yes | 606 (17.7) | 78 (15.4) | 528 (18.1) | ||
| Pre-existing substance use condition | No | 3058 (89.2) | 482 (95.1) | 2576 (88.2) | <0.001 |
| Yes | 371 (10.8) | 25 (4.9) | 346 (11.8) | ||
| Smoking status | Non-smoker | 2282 (66.6) | 373 (73.6) | 1909 (65.3) | <0.001 |
| Current smoker | 361 (10.5) | 63 (12.4) | 298 (10.2) | ||
| Past smoker | 786 (22.9) | 71 (14.0) | 715 (24.5) | ||
| High-alcohol hours | No | 3087 (90.0) | 461 (90.9) | 2626 (89.9) | 0.46 |
| Yes | 342 (10.0) | 46 (9.1) | 296 (10.1) | ||
| Cause of injury | Motor vehicle/motorcycle collision (drivers) | 898 (26.2) | 56 (11.0) | 842 (28.8) | <0.001 |
| Motor vehicle/motorcycle collision (passengers) | 209 (6.1) | 14 (2.8) | 195 (6.7) | ||
| Other transport-related causes | 496 (14.5) | 60 (11.8) | 436 (14.9) | ||
| Low falls | 660 (19.2) | 259 (51.1) | 401 (13.7) | ||
| High falls | 507 (14.8) | 34 (6.7) | 473 (16.2) | ||
| Flames/scalds/contact burns | 122 (3.6) | 18 (3.6) | 104 (3.6) | ||
| Animal-related | 69 (2.0) | 6 (1.2) | 63 (2.2) | ||
| Struck by or collided with an object or person | 189 (5.5) | 28 (5.5) | 161 (5.5) | ||
| Cutting/piercing object | 163 (4.8) | 16 (3.2) | 147 (5.0) | ||
| Other/unspecified | 116 (3.4) | 16 (3.2) | 100 (3.4) | ||
| Injury intent | Unintentional | 2881 (84.0) | 451 (89.0) | 2430 (83.2) | 0.015 |
| Intentional self-harm | 200 (5.8) | 17 (3.4) | 183 (6.3) | ||
| Interpersonal violence | 244 (7.1) | 29 (5.7) | 215 (7.4) | ||
| Could not be determined | 97 (2.8) | 10 (2.0) | 87 (3.0) | ||
| Other/unspecified | 7 (0.0) | 0 (0.0) | 7 (0.2) | ||
| Injury severity | Minor/moderate (ISS<16) | 1211 (35.3) | 212 (41.8) | 999 (34.2) | <0.001 |
| Severe (ISS 16–24) | 1176 (34.3) | 171 (33.7) | 1005 (34.4) | ||
| Very severe (ISS>24) | 1042 (30.4) | 124 (24.5) | 918 (31.4) | ||
| GCS‡ | 13–15 | 2723 (80.6) | 401 (82.5) | 2322 (80.2) | 0.14 |
| 9–12 | 231 (6.8) | 23 (4.7) | 208 (7.2) | ||
| 3–8 | 426 (12.6) | 62 (12.8) | 364 (12.6) |
Values in bold font indicate statistically significant results.
*P values were derived from χ2 analyses
†n=119 missing
‡n=49 missing
GCS, Glasgow Coma Scale; IRSAD, Index of Relative Socioeconomic Advantage and Disadvantage; ISS, Injury Severity Score; MTC, major trauma centre.