Prevalence of Chronic Inebriates to the Emergency Department and Suitability for Sobering House Services

This study is intended to evaluate the prevalence of chronically inebriated patients in the Emergeny Department (ED). Patients will be identified prospectively by screening all patients (24/7) presenting to the ED for one month. A running tally of all patients in the ED will be kept. Of these patients, any patient that is noted to have alcohol intoxication will be identified. The chart of that patient will be reviewed for details about the patient's alcohol use and for the patient's suitability for a sobering house, which is a place where intoxicated patients can go to await sobriety. The chart will also be reviewed for the number of previous visits for alcohol use to our hospital ever and in the last year.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Alcohol Intoxication

Detailed Description

For this cross-sectional study, all patients presenting to the ED of an urban, Level 1 trauma center for one month were prospectively screened by trained research associates. When an intoxicated patient was identified, study information including patient demographics, diagnoses, vital signs, blood alcohol concentration (BAC), GCS on arrival, ability to ambulate independently on arrival, use of physical or chemical restraint, previous ED visits, length of stay, and health insurance was collected. Data was analyzed using descriptive statistics.

• Study Type: Observational
• Enrollment (Actual): 668

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • Minnesota
    • Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States, 55415
      • Hennepin County Medical Center

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years and older (ADULT, OLDER_ADULT)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

• Sampling Method: Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

Patients in the emergency department for alcohol intoxication

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Patients in the emergency department for alcohol intoxication

Exclusion Criteria:

• Under 18
• Prisoners
• Pregnancy

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Number of groups / cohorts

1

Cohorts and Interventions

Group / Cohort
Intoxicated patients; patients in the Emergency Department who appear to be intoxicated with ethanol.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Intoxicated Patients Eligible for a Sobering House	Determine the proportion of patients in the emergency department that are intoxicated and how many of those would be eligible to go to a sobering house. Eligibility for a sobering house is at the discretion of the treating physician and includes the ability to ambulate without assistance and no further acute need for medical treatments.	Eligibility for a sobering house is assessed during the current ED admission. The study ends when patient is discharged from the ED, an expected average time of 9 hours.

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Hennepin Healthcare Research Institute

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start: November 1, 2012
• Primary Completion (ACTUAL): June 26, 2018
• Study Completion (ACTUAL): October 14, 2021

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: January 23, 2013
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: January 31, 2013
• First Posted (ESTIMATE): February 4, 2013

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (ACTUAL): September 15, 2022
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: August 23, 2022
• Last Verified: August 1, 2022

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Mental Disorders; Chemically-Induced Disorders; Pathologic Processes; Alcohol-Related Disorders; Substance-Related Disorders; Disease Attributes; Emergencies; Alcoholic Intoxication
• Other Study ID Numbers: 12-3560