Department of Diagnostics and Public Health - Unit of Forensic Medicine, University of Verona, Italy.
Institute of Translational Medicine and Biotechnology, Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University, Russia.
Med Sci Law. 2021 Jan;61(1_suppl):7-13. doi: 10.1177/0025802420937577.
According to the World Health Organization, as many as 25% of traffic accidents are linked to alcohol abuse. This study describes the results of a nine-year study performed on injured drivers ( = 12,806) in the Verona area of Northern Italy. Blood samples were mandatorily collected on injured drivers who were admitted to the Emergency Health Care Unit of Verona Hospital between 2009 and 2017, after they had been involved in a traffic accident. Blood alcohol concentration (BAC) determination was then undertaken using a validated head space-gas chromatography-flame ionisation detector (HS-GC-FID) method. We found that 21% of drivers tested positive for alcohol (BAC ≥0.01 g/L), while 16.8% presented with BAC levels above the Italian legal limit (>0.5 g/L). Of those who had positive BACs, about 50% presented with very high BAC levels (>1.5 g/L). Daily time distribution analyses, involving 2031 alcohol-positive drivers, showed a surge between 18:00 hours and 06:00 hours (74.3%), with a specific rise during the weekend (58.9%). The percentage of alcohol-related road accidents was 20.6%, which is lower than results reported in other international studies performed over the last 20 years. However, evidence that around 50% of the positive subjects showed a BAC >1.5 g/L confirms the correlation between BAC and accident risk, which becomes even more significant at progressively increasing levels of BAC. The study highlights the need to implement further strategies to both prevent and deter the use of alcohol while driving.
世界卫生组织称，多达 25%的交通事故与酗酒有关。本研究描述了对意大利北部维罗纳地区 9 年来受伤司机（ = 12806）进行的一项研究结果。2009 年至 2017 年期间，在涉及交通事故后，在维罗纳医院急诊医疗中心收治的受伤司机中强制性采集了血液样本。然后使用经过验证的顶空-气相色谱-火焰离子化检测（HS-GC-FID）方法测定血液酒精浓度（BAC）。我们发现，21%的司机血液酒精检测呈阳性（BAC≥0.01 g/L），而 16.8%的司机血液酒精浓度超过意大利法定限值（>0.5 g/L）。在血液酒精检测呈阳性的司机中，约 50%的司机血液酒精浓度非常高（>1.5 g/L）。涉及 2031 名血液酒精检测呈阳性的司机的每日时间分布分析显示，18:00 至 06:00 之间（74.3%）出现了激增，周末期间（58.9%）出现了特定的上升。与酒精相关的道路事故的百分比为 20.6%，低于过去 20 年进行的其他国际研究报告的结果。然而，大约 50%的阳性样本显示 BAC>1.5 g/L 的证据证实了 BAC 与事故风险之间的相关性，随着 BAC 水平的逐步升高，这种相关性变得更加显著。该研究强调需要进一步制定策略，以防止和阻止在开车时使用酒精。
