Grant: Catalyst Grant: Alcohol research to inform health policies and interventions

Alcohol-related deaths have been referred to as a silent epidemic in Canada, with 250 alcohol-related hospitalizations daily. Alcohol is a risk factor for traumatic physical injury. Traumatic physical injuries are the primary cause of death and a leading cause of hospitalizations worldwide. Injuries have significant impact on mental, physical, and social health for the rest of the person's life. While burden from injury can be reduced through prevention programs, the programs are more effective if targeted to at risk groups. Social determinants of child health (SDOH) can help us understand which factors place young adults at greater risk for alcohol-related traumatic injury, guiding the development of targeted prevention strategies that engage participants from at-risk groups. We propose to better understand the association between SDOH and alcohol-related traumatic physical injury in young adults by using information based on large population-wide data. We will examine a longitudinal group of over 2800 young adults hospitalized for alcohol-related traumatic physical injury and over 2000 young adults with injury but no alcohol, by linking longitudinal administrative and clinical data contained at the Manitoba Centre for Health Policy. We will examine 13 SDOH over childhood including: Use of income assistance, rural/urban status, socioeconomic status, children in care, child mental disorder, parental factors (involved with criminal justice system, education, social housing, immigration status, high residential mobility, mother's age at first birth, parental mental disorder, and parental physical disorder) to identify groups and periods of time which identify females and males at greatest risk for alcohol-related traumatic injury. Knowing these evidence-based at-risk factors will guide decision-makers/health policy makers to improve injury prevention efforts by targeting individuals that are most vulnerable.