Alcohol, illicit drugs and prescription medications used by severely injured drivers, riders and pedestrians before and after the crash

Abstract

This project was concerned with examining substance use both before and following involvement in road crashes causing serious injury. It was comprised of two data analysis studies, one on fatal crashes and one on hospital admission cases, a literature review on substance use by those with injury types included within the Lifetime Support Scheme (LSS), and a discussion of potential studies to look at post-injury substance use among seriously injured road users in South Australia. Substance use was found to be involved in a large proportion of hospital admission and fatal injury crashes. A direct contribution to fatal crashes of substance use was found in 36% of cases. An illegal BAC and illicit drug use were found in similar proportions of cases, while combinations of multiple substance types were common. The literature review revealed that post-injury substance use often replicated pre-injury substance use and often results in worse outcomes. Management of pain is a critical issue post-injury for the injury types within the LSS. Opioids are frequently prescribed to treat chronic pain but alternative therapies need to be explored to avoid some of the negative effects of long term opioid use.