Study objective:
To determine the reliability of a recently developed electrochemical meter to rapidly (within 60 seconds) measure blood alcohol concentration (bac) in the emergency department.
Design:
A prospective study comparing the meter data with that of immunoassay and gas chromatography criterion standards undertaken during a ten-week period.
Setting:
Adult ed of a municipal hospital.
Participants:
Three hundred eighty-three consecutive patients with altered mental status or suspected alcohol intoxication.
Interventions:
Each patient underwent routine phlebotomy, and blood samples were obtained for meter and immunoassay bac determinations. the first 60% of patients also underwent gas chromatography bac determination.
Results:
Two hundred nineteen patients (60%) had bac detectable by both meter and immunoassay. bac measurement by the meter correlated strongly with immunoassay and gas chromatography determinations (pearson's correlation coefficient, r = .94; p less than .00000001 for both correlations).
Conclusion:
The electrochemical meter provides a rapid and reliable bac measurement in the ed.