• Leanne Hides, Jesani Limbong, Kirsten Vallmuur, Ruth Barker, Mark Daglish, and Ross McD Young.
• Centre for Youth Substance Abuse Research, Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation, School of Psychology and Counselling, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia.
• Drug Alcohol Rev. 2015 Mar 1; 34 (2): 177-84.

Introduction And AimsThe rate of alcohol-related emergency department (ED) presentations in young people has increased dramatically in recent decades. Injuries are the most common type of youth alcohol-related ED presentation, yet little is known about these injuries in young people. This paper describes the characteristics of alcohol-related ED injury presentations in young people over a 13-year period and determines if they differ by gender and/or age group (adolescents: 12-17 years; young adults: 18-24 years).Design And MethodThe Queensland Injury Surveillance Unit (QISU) database collects injury surveillance data at triage in participating EDs throughout Queensland, Australia. A total of 4667 cases of alcohol-related injuries in young people (aged 12-24 years) were identified in the QISU database between January 1999 and December 2011, using an injury surveillance code and nursing triage text-based search strategy.ResultsOverall, young people accounted for 38% of all QISU alcohol-related ED injury presentations in patients aged 12 years or over. The majority of young adults presented with injuries due to violence and falls, whereas adolescents presented due to self-harm or intoxication without other injury. Males presented with injuries due to violence, whereas females presented with alcohol-related self-harm and intoxication.Discussion And ConclusionsThere is a need for more effective ways of identifying the degree of alcohol involvement in injuries among young people presenting to EDs.© 2014 Australasian Professional Society on Alcohol and other Drugs.

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