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Acute alcohol intoxication among adolescents—the role of the context of drinking

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Abstract

This study aims (1) to describe the context of drinking among adolescents with acute alcohol intoxication (AAI) by gender, (2) to explore temporal changes in the context of drinking and (3) to analyse the association between the context of drinking and blood alcohol concentration (BAC). A retrospective chart review of 12- to 17-year-old inpatients with AAI (n = 1441) of the years 2000 to 2006 has been conducted in five participating hospitals in Germany. Gender differences in the context of drinking were tested with t test and chi2 test. Differences over time were analysed using logistic regressions. Multivariate linear regression was used to predict BAC. Girls and boys differed in admission time, drinking situation, drinking occasion and admission context. No temporal changes in drinking situation and in admission to hospital from public locations or places were found. Higher BAC coincided with male gender and age. Moreover, BAC was higher among patients admitted to hospital from public places and lower among patients who drank for coping.

Conclusion: The results suggest gender differences in the context of drinking. The context of drinking needs to be considered in the development and implementation of target group-specific prevention and intervention measures.

What is known:

• The context of drinking, e.g. when, where, why and with whom is associated with episodic heavy drinking among adolescents.

What is new:

• Male and female inpatients with acute alcohol intoxication differ with regards to the context of drinking, i.e. in admission time, drinking situation, drinking occasion and admission context.

• Being admitted to hospital from public places is associated with higher blood alcohol concentration.

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Abbreviations

AAI:

Acute alcohol intoxication

BAC:

Blood alcohol concentration

EHD:

Episodic heavy drinking

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by grant no. IIA5-2511DSM220 from the German Federal Ministry of Health (Bundesministerium für Gesundheit).

The authors would like to thank their colleagues from the RiScA-Group: Stefanie Bumke, Rostock; Eva-Maria Bitzer, Heidi Kuttler and Hanna Schwendemann, Freiburg.

Authors’ contributions

Ulrich S. Zimmermann developed the study design, obtained funding for the study and contributed to the discussion of the manuscript. Armin Grübl conducted the study in one of the treatment centres and provided feedback on the manuscript text. Ludwig Kraus and Daniela Piontek assisted with study design and data management and were involved in data preparation and analyses as well as in the discussion of the results. Cornelius Groß, Olaf Reis and Oliver Pogarell were involved in the discussion and the critical revision of the manuscript. Bettina Grüne conducted the analyses and wrote the manuscript. All authors have read and approved the final version of the article.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. IFT Institut für Therapieforschung, Munich, Germany

    Bettina Grüne, Daniela Piontek & Ludwig Kraus

  2. Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Ludwig-Maximilians University, Munich, Germany

    Bettina Grüne & Oliver Pogarell

  3. Children’s Hospital and Polyclinic for Children’s and Youth Medicine, TUM Klinikum Schwabing StKM GmbH, Munich, Germany

    Armin Grübl

  4. Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany

    Cornelius Groß & Ulrich S. Zimmermann

  5. Clinic for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, University Medicine of Rostock, Rostock, Germany

    Olaf Reis

  6. Centre for Social Research on Alcohol and Drugs (SoRAD), Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden

    Ludwig Kraus

Authors
  1. Bettina Grüne
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  2. Daniela Piontek
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  8. Ludwig Kraus
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Bettina Grüne.

Ethics declarations

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

For this type of study, formal consent is not required.

Funding

This work was supported by grant no. IIA5-2511DSM220 from the German Federal Ministry of Health (Bundesministerium für Gesundheit).

Conflict of interest

The authors state they have no financial relationship with the organisation that sponsored the research.

Ludwig Kraus and Daniela Piontek declare having received a grant from Lundbeck GmbH for a research project on alcohol epidemiology not related to this study.

Ulrich S. Zimmermann declares having received honoraries from Lundbeck GmbH, Sächsische Landesärztekammer, Helios Klinikum Freital, Klinik Hohe Mark Oberursel, Sächsisches Krankenhaus Rodewisch and Dresdner Druck-und Verlagshaus. None of these payments implies a conflict of interest with the here reported data.

Olaf Reis was involved in several projects of drug prevention founded by governmental institutions on a federal and state level.

Bettina Grüne, Oliver Pogarell, Armin Grübl and Cornelius Groß confirm that there are no conflicts of interest associated with this publication.

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Grüne, B., Piontek, D., Pogarell, O. et al. Acute alcohol intoxication among adolescents—the role of the context of drinking. Eur J Pediatr 176, 31–39 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00431-016-2797-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00431-016-2797-4

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