It's official, drunk people DO trip up the stairs! New graphic reveals how steps, floors and bicycles cause the most injuries to intoxicated people
- Since 2009 there were 13,438 cases of people arriving at hospital emergency rooms with injuries they had suffered while intoxicated
- Stairs caused 17% of injuries while floors caused 13% of accidents
- People tend to get hurt at the age of 21, and then again at 50
- Heads and faces were the parts of the body most commonly injured
After a few glasses of wine or beer, it's easy to think we are invincible.
But a moment of unsteadiness or an accidental knock can quickly turn into scraped knees, black eyes, and bruised ribs.
Now, a new graphic reveals when, where and how intoxicated injuries happen.
Drugabuse.com, an addictions website and helpline, looked at incidences where people have presented at a hospital emergency room after becoming injured while under the influence.
Using data from the Center for Disease and Controls' National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS), they discovered there had been 13,438 recorded cases across the US since 2009.
There have been 13,438 cases of people arriving at hospital emergency rooms injured while under the influence since 2009. Stairs caused 17 per cent of accidents while floors cause 13 per cent
The found stairs, followed by the floor are the main enemies of the drunken stumbler, causing 17 per cent and 13 per cent of injuries respectively.
Descriptions of the incidents ranged from a simple slip and fall to the quite bizarre.
In one example, a 21-year-old female stated she 'drank mushroom tea, thought she was in hell, and jumped down stairs to get away.'
People tend to get hurt at the age of 21, and then again at 50, the data showed.
There was also a worrying spike in injuries among toddlers and young children.
In many cases, these injuries are attributed to inadequate or ineffective supervision or accidental consumption of drugs left out by adults.
And men are much more accident-prone than women: 70 per cent of all intoxicated injuries happen to men.
In both sexes, people injured their heads and face injuries most commonly - these areas represented up to half of all recorded incidents.
However, women injure certain body parts with disproportionate frequency.
These body parts include the foot, toe, and pubic region, followed by the ankle and upper arm.
The injuries range from the trivial to the terrifying.
Graphic shows the percentage of injuries occurring to each body part, split by gender. For example, for ear injuries, just 10.8 per cent, happened to women but they had more injuries when it came to the pubic area
Graphic shows the number of injuries that occurred at each age. Injuries peak at the age of 21, and then again at 50, the data from drug abuse.com showed
Graph shows how the number of intoxicated increased over time since 2015. More than 40 per cent of injuries happened within the home
A spokesperson from DrugAbuse.com said: 'One such report involves a female accidentally breaking off a hypodermic needle in her arm while and then trying unsuccessfully to cut it out with a razor blade.
'Several others reference people punching through walls and windows, resulting in lacerations and other injuries.'
They warned that accidents and injuries that lead people to the ER are without doubt even more numerous than those documented in medical records.
This is because people will frequently hide or downplay the involvement of drugs or alcohol out of embarrassment and, perhaps, the fear of legal repercussion.
The spokesperson continued: 'We need all be mindful of the fact that the potential exists not only to inflict serious injury to oneself while and drugs, but to anyone in close proximity – at a club or party, at home and, of course, on the road.
'Accidents and injuries are frequently representative of a larger problem with drugs and alcohol. We urge you to seek help before it gets to this point.'
To see the full study, visit http://drugabuse.com/featured/emergency-room-injuries/
Unsurprisingly, injuries peak on a weekend and are less common on Mondays and Tuesdays (as shown by the bottom graph in orange). They also peak at the beginning, the 16th day of the month and the 25th day of the month (as shows by the top graph in green)
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-3307355/It-s-official-drunk-people-trip-stairs-New-graphic-reveals-steps-floors-bicycles-cause-injuries-intoxicated-people.html#ixzz3qlqnHICB
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