Article

OBJECTIVE: To examine (a) ethnic differences in blood alcohol level (BAL) and
preinjury chronic alcohol use (PI-ETOH) within a severe closed head injury (CHI)
sample and (b) the main and interaction effects of BAL,
PI-ETOH, and ethnicity on
functional outcome following severe CHI. PARTICIPANTS:
A total of 434 Hispanic,
Anglo-Caucasian, and African-American individuals with severe CHI. DESIGN:
Retrospective cohort study. SETTING: Consecutive admissions to a level 1 trauma
center. MAIN MEASURES: After admission to the trauma center, BAL was collected
for each patient. Additional information regarding PI-ETOH was collected in a
subset of patients (N = 116). Functional outcome was measured using the
Disability Rating Scale (DRS) at 6 months after injury. RESULTS: A one-way
analysis of variance revealed ethnic differences in mean BAL. Hierarchical
multiple regression indicated that BAL did not predict DRS outcomes after
controlling for pertinent covariates. An interaction effect between PI-ETOH and
ethnicity was observed, such that presence of chronic alcohol use predicted worse
functional outcome for Anglo-Caucasians and African-Americans, but more favorable
outcome for Hispanics. CONCLUSIONS: Ethnic differences in BALs within our severe
traumatic brain injury sample mirrored ethnic drinking patterns observed in the
general population, with Hispanics having the highest BALs. A paradoxical
relationship between PI-ETOH and functional outcome was observed for Hispanics.

Langue : ANGLAIS