Abstract Background: Drink-driving (DD) offenses pose a major public health and safety threat in India, yet the underlying prevalence of hazardous drinking and potential alcohol use disorder among legally implicated offenders remains underdocumented. This study aimed to assess alcohol use patterns and dependence risk among DD offenders in a court setting. Methodology: This prospective observational study recruited 57 male DD offenders (mean age: 31. 86 ± 8. 22 years) attending court hearings in Pune, India. Data were collected through face-to-face interviews using the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) and objective breath alcohol concentration (BrAC) records. Descriptive statistics, Chi-square tests, and Spearman’s rank correlation were used for analysis. Results: The mean BrAC was high at 241. 53 ± 197. 75 mg/dl. The majority (82. 46%) admitted that they or someone else had been injured due to their drinking, and 61. 40% reported external concern about their consumption. Higher BrAC levels showed significant positive correlations with increased drinking frequency (P = 0. 0018), binge drinking (P = 0. 0071), loss of control (P = 0. 0166), and the need for morning drinking (P = 0. 0001). Furthermore, younger age correlated significantly with higher total AUDIT scores (rₛ = −0. 316, P = 0. 017), indicating riskier consumption patterns in youth. Conclusion: A large proportion of DD offenders exhibit patterns consistent with hazardous drinking and potential alcohol dependence, which is strongly associated with the objective measure of intoxication (BrAC). The findings advocate for a shift toward a public health model, recommending mandatory AUDIT screening in judicial procedures to triage high-risk offenders into targeted, court-monitored rehabilitation programs.
Deshpande et al. (Thu,) studied this question.
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