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SAMRC study to identify appropriate methods of diagnosing alcohol-related injury and violence in a clinical setting

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Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the role of alcohol has been a key feature in the trauma setting and has since become particularly prominent during the lockdown. However, there remains a lack of routine and reliable injury surveillance and specifically alcohol-related harm data in South Africa to respond to the related trauma burden. Additionally, research to develop systems or reliable mechanisms to test alcohol-relatedness of trauma and to monitor the impact of interventions, is also lacking.

But this, will soon be a thing of the past as two scientists from the South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC) have embarked on a journey that will see them provide crucial evidence needed for effective measurement of alcohol-related trauma to improve injury surveillance and clinical management.

Drs Megan Prinsloo from the Burden of Disease Research Unit (BODRU) and Petal Petersen-Williams from the Alcohol Tobacco and Other Drugs Research Unit (ATODRU) were recently announced as second place recipients of the SAMRC Intramural Early – Mid Career Researcher Flagship Award. These awards are designed to support research in important areas of morbidity and mortality that have, over the years, been less well-resourced – earlier this year, young scientists within the organisation were invited to apply after which a vigorous selection and approval process was followed to determine deserving applicants.

Through this funding, the two will lead as Principal Investigators (PIs), a study titled: Alcohol Diagnostic Validation for Injury-Related Trauma (AVIRT): A catalyst for improving health practice and policy in South Africa. Primarily, this mixed method study comprising qualitative and quantitative research methods, aims to validate alcohol diagnostics for injury-related trauma and assess its utility for improving national health practice and policy.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO) SAFER Strategy of Monitoring, aimed at government officials to address alcohol harm, alcohol is an established risk factor for violence and injuries and accurately monitoring alcohol- relatedness in response to interventions, policy changes, etc. will be necessary to evaluate effectiveness. A sentiment shared by these two women on a mission.

The two said COVID-19 and the associated alcohol bans in South Africa has demonstrated the critical gap and necessity to routinely collect alcohol-related injury data. “We are delighted for the opportunity to influence health practice and policy around alcohol testing in trauma unit settings through this flagship funding,” they said, adding that the outcomes from their research will inform alcohol policy development and sustained intervention strategies.

To fulfil this task, the pair will undertake a three-step approach which includes determining what type of alcohol information will be useful for different stakeholders in the trauma and injury prevention sectors, through Focus Group Discussions (FGDs). This will be followed by a process of validating alcohol diagnostic tools in a clinical trauma setting, a single public health facility in the Western Cape (WC) Province and ultimately field-testing them at a District hospital.

Through this project, Prinsloo and Peterson-Williams say they hope to identify and validate the most appropriate method(s) of diagnosing alcohol-related injury and violence in a clinical setting. “Findings from this study are likely to be highly relevant and could influence our primary beneficiaries – policy makers and senior health clinicians – to adopt new practices and policies around alcohol testing in injured patients,” they concluded.