News in brief - Oct. 24, 2011

Traumatic brain injuries becoming more common in youths - Doctors advised to screen patients for alcohol, discuss drinking guidelines

Traumatic brain injuries becoming more common in youths

Emergency department visits for traumatic brain injuries, including concussions, among children and adolescents increased 60% during the last decade, according to a report in the Oct. 7 issue of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

Researchers examined data from the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System-All Injury Program for 2001 through 2009. They found there were 248,418 traumatic brain injury-related ED visits in 2009, up from 153,375 visits in 2001. The highest rates occurred in males age 10 to 19 (www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm6039a1.htm).

The primary sports involved with the injury were basketball, bicycling, football, soccer and playground activities.

Doctors advised to screen patients for alcohol, discuss drinking guidelines

Physicians should talk to young adult patients about their alcohol use and counsel those whose consumption exceeds limits set by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, says a study published online Sept. 21 in the Journal of General Internal Medicine.

NIAAA researchers in 2006 surveyed 3,799 people age 18 to 39 on their drinking habits and whether they visited a doctor during the past year. Participants who saw a physician were asked additional questions to determine whether he or she assessed their alcohol use and advised them about safe drinking practices during the visit.

The study found that 47% of participants exceeded the NIAAA's daily or weekly alcohol consumption limits (www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21935753). The limits call for men to have no more than four alcoholic drinks a day and up to 14 per week. For women, the guidelines are three or fewer alcoholic drinks a day and no more than seven a week.

Of respondents who visited a physician and whose drinking exceeded guidelines, 49% recalled the doctor asking about their drinking. Only 14% of those participants were informed of low-risk drinking guidelines, and 7% were advised to reduce their alcohol intake.