Data from a Swiss study of alcohol-related road accidents of 18-25 year-old drivers are taken (Fahrenkrug and Rehm 1992) using a case-control group design to give a detailed description of the pre-accident phase (place, time, social activities, dynamic of drinking situation etc.) and to test hypotheses and to calculate relative risks (RR) concerning certain leisure-time activities, drinking and the involvement in an alcohol-related accident. Results indicate that in more than 50 per cent of all accidents alcoholic beverages were consumed in two and more different drinking contexts in the pre-accident phase. The locations of the pre-accident drinking were in three of four cases public drinking establishments. In a third of the cases the public drinking place was youth-specific. The preferred beverage type was beer in all regions. In nearly 50 per cent of all accidents informal leisure-time activities at public drinking places preceded the crash. The last trip before the accident event was in 57 percent a drive home from a public drinking place. Case-control study results show a three-to six-fold increased RR of accident involvement for young male adults with an action/sensation seeking leisure-time style combined with high alcohol consumption or frequent visits to public drinking places compared to matched controls. Furthermore, possible implications of the results for prevention such as "drinking environment-oriented approaches" (server intervention, peer prevention) are discussed.
Abstract