Time of day as indicator of adolescent alcohol intoxication emergency department presentations

In line with other countries from wealthier parts of the world, the Netherlands shows clear trends of less alcohol use and less binge drinking by youth since the millennium shift.1 Contrary to these trends, the number of underage patients who are admitted to a hospital with alcohol intoxication characteristics is an ongoing and stable health concern in the country.2

Knowledge about what time of day patients are brought into the hospital is important for the development of efficient prevention policies. The primary aim of this repeated cross-sectional study was to investigate how time of day variation (morning, afternoon, evening and night) was associated with patient and intoxication characteristics in Dutch adolescents admitted for alcohol intoxication. Furthermore, we also examined how alcohol intoxication hospital admission time trends developed between 2007 and 2017.

In this repeated cross-sectional study, the contents of 5511 patient files were analysed. During the data collection period (2007–2017), paediatric doctors reported cases of alcohol intoxication to the Dutch Paediatric Surveillance Unit, a nationwide surveillance system, with around 95% participation grade. Time of day for admittance was one question on the questionnaire with four answering options: morning (06:00–11:59), afternoon (12:00–17:59), evening (18:00–23:59) and night (00:00–05:59).