• John McManus, Nathan D Magaret, Jerris R Hedges, Nicolas B Rayner, and Matthew Rice.
• US Army Institute of Surgical Research, Brooke Army Medical Center, San Antonio, TX 78234-6315, USA. john.mcmanus@amedd.army.mil
• Acad Emerg Med. 2005 Sep 1;12(9):896-9.

ObjectivesTo assess emergency physician reporting patterns in Oregon before and after the passage of a mandatory intoxicated driving reporting law.MethodsA one-page survey was mailed to 504 emergency physicians in Oregon in April 2004. Data on reporting frequency were collected using a four-point ordinal scale regarding motor vehicle crash-involved drivers (MIDs) and intoxicated persons attempting to drive away from the emergency department (DAEDs). Paired observations were assessed for a stated increase in reporting activity following passage of the law using the Wilcoxon signed-rank test. Associations of postlaw reporting and demographic and knowledge factors were sought using Spearman rank correlation analysis.ResultsOf the 504 surveys mailed, 298 (59%) were adequate for analysis. Many respondents (57%) were already aware of the law. Most (92%) agreed that physicians should be mandated to report some crimes. MIDs were always reported by 18% of physicians before the law and by 47% afterward, whereas DAEDs were always reported by 56% of physicians before the law and by 69% afterward. Emergency medicine-trained physicians, higher emergency department census, and increased years of experience were associated with a significantly higher increase in reporting pattern after passage of the law for both MIDs and DAEDs.ConclusionsAlthough 44% of responding emergency physicians in Oregon were unaware of a mandated reporting law for intoxicated drivers presenting to the ED, most physicians stated an increase in their reporting practice.

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