Substance use in rural trauma patients admitted for motor vehicle injuries before and during the COVID-19 pandemic

Table 1 Demographic characteristics of trauma patients tested for drugs and alcohol during pre-COVID and COVID periods^a

Characteristic	Pre-COVID period (N = 740)		COVID period (N = 725)		Total (N = 1465)		p-value
Characteristic	Mean	SD	Mean	SD	Mean	SD	p-value
Age (years)	46.1	20.0	44.5	19.4	45.3	19.7	0.133
BAC (mg/dl)^b	0.03	0.07	0.03	0.08	0.03	0.07	0.159

	N	%	N	%	N	%
Sex							0.096
Male	406	54.9	429	59.2	835	57.0
Female	334	45.1	296	40.8	630	43.0
Vehicle driver							0.755
Yes	471	84.1	580	83.5	1051	83.7
No	89	15.9	115	16.5	204	16.3
Missing	180		30		210
Seatbelt worn							0.626
Yes	434	71.5	459	72.7	893	72.1
No	173	28.5	172	27.3	345	27.8
Missing	133		94		227
Weekend admittance							0.848
Yes	211	28.5	210	29.0	421	28.7
No	529	71.5	515	71.0	1044	71.3
Season of admittance							< 0.0001
December–February	216	29.2	97	13.4	313	21.4
March–May	149	20.1	185	25.5	334	22.8
June–August	129	17.4	263	36.3	392	26.8
September–November	246	33.2	180	24.8	426	29.1
Injury severity score							0.697
1–15	588	79.5	582	80.3	1170	79.9
≥ 16	152	20.5	143	19.7	295	20.1
Mental health condition^C							0.683
Yes	274	37.0	261	36.0	535	36.5
No	466	63.0	464	64.0	930	63.5
Alcohol use disorder							0.163
Yes	40	5.4	52	7.2	92	6.3
No	700	94.6	673	92.8	1373	93.7
Substance use disorder/chronic drug abuse							0.001
Yes	87	11.8	130	17.9	217	14.8
No	653	88.2	595	82.1	1248	85.2
Alcohol positive							0.700
Yes	123	16.6	126	17.4	249	17.0
No	617	83.4	599	82.6	1216	83.0
Drug positive							0.072
Yes	392	53.0	418	57.7	810	55.3
No	348	47.0	307	42.3	655	44.7
Drug and alcohol positive							0.266
Yes	63	8.5	74	10.2	137	9.3
No	677	91.5	651	89.8	1328	90.7
Number of non-alcohol drugs detected							0.003
0	348	47.0	307	42.3	655	44.7
1	250	33.8	217	29.9	467	31.9
2	96	13.0	132	18.2	228	15.6
≥ 3	46	6.2	69	9.5	115	7.9

BAC, blood alcohol concentration; N, frequency; SD, standard deviation
^aPre-COVID period was defined as September 1, 2018–March 15, 2020, while COVID period was defined as March 16, 2020–September 30, 2021. Drugs exclude those that were received as part of pre-hospital care
^bBACs presented in table are for the overall population, which included those who tested 0 mg/dl for alcohol. Among those who tested positive for any alcohol (i.e., ≥ 0.01 mg/dl), the mean (SD) for pre-COVID period was 0.17 (0.09); COVID period = 0.18 (0.08); total = 0.17 (0.09)
^CMental health conditions include individuals with alcohol use disorder, substance use disorder, chronic drug abuse, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, psychiatric illness, mental/personality disorder, or dementia

ISSN: 2197-1714