Alcohol-related injury and driving while intoxicated in the U.S. general population: A risk function analysis from the 2000 and 2005 National Alcohol Surveys

Due to scarce national population data on risk of alcohol-related injury (ARI) or drinking while intoxicated (DWI), findings are reported on 8,736 respondents who consumed at least one drink in the last 12 months, in a merged sample from the 2000 and 2005 National Alcohol Surveys. Self reported consumption patterns were assessed as average daily volume and frequency of consuming 5 or more (5+) and 8 or more (8+) drinks in a day. Risks were defined using CHAID segmentation analysis implemented with SPSS Answer Tree. For ARI (n=111), among those consuming between 1 drink per week but less than 1 per day, risk was significantly elevated for those reporting any 5+ days. For those reporting volumes of 1 drink a day but less than 4 drinks a day, risk was significantly elevated for those reporting any 8+ days. Risk was highest for those reporting more than 4 drinks per day. For DWI (n=702), any 5+ days and more than five 5+ days in the prior year were associated with elevated risk for most alcohol consumption levels. Among those reporting 2 to 4 drinks a day and more than five 5+ days, risk was further elevated for those reporting any 8+ days. Risk was highest for those reporting 4 or more drinks per day and more than five 5+ days (68% DWI). Data indicate that ARI and DWI are positively associated with both average daily volume and number of high consumption days, consistent with highest risk associated with high consumption days.