Alcohol Brand Consumption and Injury in an Urban Emergency Room Population

The marketing of alcoholic beverages, through a combination of product development, price, availability and promotion, creates unique beverage profiles in the marketplace, yet little research exists on the relationship of specific brands of beverages to adverse health outcomes. In addition, few studies have looked at the mixing of alcoholic beverages and energy drinks. To begin to fill these gaps, this study examined what specific brands and larger categories of alcoholic beverages (e.g. vodka, whisky, malt liquor, etc.) were most commonly consumed by persons presenting in the emergency room with injuries. Patients who according to self-reports had been drinking within six hours of injury presentation at an urban emergency department on weekend nights were consented and surveyed using a hand-held computer-based survey incorporating more than 350 specific brands in 16 categories. They were also asked about mixture of energy drinks with alcohol. In most cases, the survey could be administered in five minutes or less. Prevalence of brand consumption within the emergency department population was then compared with brand consumption in the general population. Data from the persons surveyed are provided, and recommendations are made regarding both the need for further emergency department-based research into brand consumption, and for greater surveillance and regulation of specific products in the marketplace with a disproportionate relationship to injury events.