Risk of injury from acute alcohol consumption and the influence of confounders

In this study, acute alcohol consumption significantly increased the risk of injury, even when situational and other risk factors were considered. However, the relationship between alcohol and injury appears confounded by usual drinking patterns, risk-taking behaviour and substance use. Therefore, these variables should be considered in any analysis of the alcohol-injury relationship, and also considered when developing public health strategies to reduce alcohol-related injury. Further research is required to elucidate the nature of this relationship, and to identify the effect of risk-taking and substance use on different types of injuries (e.g. mechanism of injury; body region injured) and injury severity. The stability of the models and the consistency of the findings across all measures of alcohol used support claims for the validity of the observed effects.