ATLANTA, Sep 3, 2009 (UPI via COMTEX) -- About 12 percent of binge drinkers say
they drove during or within two hours of their most recent binge drinking
episode, U.S. researchers found.
Dr. Timothy S. Naimi and colleagues at the National Centers for Chronic Disease
Prevention and Health Promotion at the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention in Atlanta analyzed data from 14,085 adults from 13 states in 2003
and 14 states in 2004 as part of the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System
survey.
For the purposes of the study, binge drinking was defined as the consumption of
five or more drinks on one occasion.
Approximately 15 percent of all adults report one or more episodes of binge
drinking in the past month, resulting in 1.5 billion binge drinking episodes
annually -- or approximately 7 episodes per adult per year, the study said.
The study, scheduled to be published in the October issue of the American
Journal of Preventive Medicine, found binge drinkers who drank most of their
alcohol in bars, clubs and restaurants and who subsequently drove consumed an
average of eight drinks, 53.5 percent consumed seven or more drinks and 25.7
consumed 10 or more drinks.
Overall, 75.1 percent of binge drinkers were men and 75.1 percent were age 44 or
younger.
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