Prevention in Trauma: A legal perspective from the issuance of a regulation that punishes those who drive under the influence of alcohol in Colombia

Abstract

Introduction: Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is one of the pathologies leading to greater disability and mor-tality level in Latin America, is considered a public health problem. The aim of this study was to assess the income of patients diagnosed with TBI in a university hospital in Colombia before and after implementa-tion of a public policy that increased surveillance and penalties associated with driving while intoxicated.Materials and Methods: A database of patients diagnosed with TBI admitted between June 2013 and April 2014, with a history of alcohol intake was constructed. The result according to the time of admission with respect to the implementation of public policy was determined. Univariate analysis was performed. Mea-sures of central tendency and dispersion for continuous variables were calculated.Results: In total 846 patients, 529 before and 319 after implementation of the policy were analyzed. The median age was 34.6 vs. 34,4p: 0.793. The median ISS for the groups was 25.3 vs. 24.8p: 0.976. With the implementation of public policy, hospital admissions decreased from 62.52% vs. 37.48% p: 0.001 and mor-tality in the Emergency Department decreased from 6.8% to 4.1% p: 0.001.Conclusion: The adoption of a public policy that increased surveillance and penalties for driving while intoxicated, is associated with decreased hospital admissions and mortality in TBI patients at emergency department in a university hospital in Colombia.