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T HE RELATIONSHIP between alcohol and accidental injuries and deaths has fre- quently been investigated, but major research has been limited primarily to traffic accidents.In an extensive review, Haddon (1) concluded that a significant relationship had been estab- lished between the ingestion of alcohol and the occurrence of traffic accidents.Demone and Ka- sey (2) reviewed studies of nonmotor vehicle accidents and reported high frequencies of ele- vated alcohol levels in injured persons.Most of these studies, however, dealt with industrial ac- cidents.In the few that did not, information was lacking on the specific place where the acci- dent occurred.Only two studies were found in the literature concerning the role of alcohol in home accident injuries-our major interest.In a study of 94 home accident victims admit- ted to the emergency floor of the Boston (Mass.)City Hospital, Kirkpatrick and Taubenhaus (3) obtained inconclusive results on the relationship between alcohol level and type of injury, length of disability, and disposition of the patient.
Wechsler et al. (Wed,) studied this question.