Using the Cardiff model to reduce late-night alcohol-related presentations in regional Australia

Abstract

Introduction The Cardiff model is a data sharing approach that aims to reduce the volume of intoxicated patients in emergency departments (EDs). This approach has not been tested in a rural setting.

Objective This study assessed whether this approach would reduce the number of alcohol-associated presentations during high-alcohol hours (HAH) in a regional ED.

Design From July 2017, people over the age of 18 attending the ED were asked by the triage nurse (1) whether they had consumed alcohol in the past 12 h, (2) their typical alcohol consumption level, (3) the location where most alcohol was purchased and (4) the location of the last drink. From April 2018, quarterly letters were sent to the top five venues reported within the ED. Deidentified, aggregated data were shared with local police, licensing authorities and local government, identifying the top five venues reported in the ED and providing a summary of alcohol-related attendances to the ED. Interrupted time series analyses were used to estimate the influence of the intervention on monthly injury and alcohol-related ED presentations.

Findings ITS models found that there was a significant gradual decrease in the monthly rate of injury attendances during HAH (Coefficient = −0.004, p = 0.044). No other significant results were found.

Discussion Our study found that sharing last drinks data collected in the ED with a local violence prevention committee was associated with a small, but significant reduction in the rate of injury presentations compared with all ED presentations.

Conclusion This intervention continues to have promise for reducing alcohol-related harm.