Underage Drinkers Seek Help in Emergency Rooms
A new report released from SAMHSA's Drug Abuse Warning
Network (DAWN) estimates that 142,701 alcohol-related
emergency room visits to U.S. hospitals were made by
individuals age 12 to 20 during 2004.
DAWN collects data—from a national sample of hospitals—on
emergency department (ED) visits related to recent drug
use. The report shows nearly half
(42 percent) of drug-related ED visits among patients
age 12 to 20 involved alcohol.
In addition, patients age 18 to 20 were approximately
three times as likely as patients age 12 to 17 to have
an alcohol-related ED visit, with this difference by
age similar whether the visit was for alcohol alone or
for alcohol with other drugs.
Visits involving alcohol with other drugs (19 percent)
were nearly two times as likely to result in admission
to the hospital for inpatient care when compared to visits
involving alcohol alone
(10 percent).
Among admissions, the visits involving alcohol with
other drugs were most likely to require intensive or
critical care (35 percent), but nearly one in five (19
percent) were admitted to psychiatric units.
ED Visit Rates for Alcohol Only and Alcohol with Other
Drug(s)
Rate per 100,000 population
Source: Drug Abuse Warning Network, Office of Applied
Studies, SAMHSA, 2004.
The report, Emergency
Department Visits Involving Underage Drinking,
is available from SAMHSA's National Clearinghouse for
Alcohol and Drug Information at P.O. Box 2345, Rockville,
MD 20847-2345. Telephone: 1 (800) 729-6686 (English and
Spanish) or 1 (800) 487-4889 (TDD). Online, the report
is available on the SAMHSA Web site at dawninfo.samhsa.gov/
pubs/shortreports/default.asp. 
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