The risk of injury caused by acute alcohol consumption is higher for women compared with men, according to a new study of emergency department patients in 18 countries, including India and China.
Researchers found that the risk of injury is similar for both men and women up to three ‘standard’ drinks (containing 16 ml or 12.8 g of pure ethanol), the risk then increases more rapidly for women, becoming twice the risk to men around 15 drinks and three times the risk to men around 30 drinks.
In this study the drinks were reportedly consumed within six hours prior to injury.
Researchers found that the risk of injury from violence increases more rapidly as the volume of alcohol consumed increases.
The study looked at over 13,000 injured patients from Argentina, Belarus, Brazil, Canada, China, Czech Republic, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Guyana, India, Ireland, Korea, Mexico, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Panama, Sweden, and Switzerland.
The study was published in the journal Addiction.
