Identifying and Validating Alcohol Diagnostics for Injury-Related Trauma in South Africa: Protocol for a Mixed Methods Study (Preprint)

BACKGROUND The burden of alcohol use among patients with trauma and the relative injury risks is not routinely measured in South Africa. Given the prominent burden of alcohol on hospital trauma departments, South Africa needs practical, cost-effective, and accurate alcohol diagnostic tools for testing, surveillance, and clinical management of patients with trauma. OBJECTIVE This study aims to validate alcohol diagnostics for injury-related trauma and assess its use for improving national health practice and policy. METHODS The Alcohol Diagnostic Validation for Injury-Related Trauma study will use mixed methods across 3 work packages. Five web-based focus group discussions will be conducted with 6 to 8 key stakeholders, each across 4 areas of expertise (clinical, academic, policy, and operational) to determine the type of alcohol information that will be useful for different stakeholders in the injury prevention and health care sectors. We will then conduct a small pilot study followed by a validation study of alcohol diagnostic tools (clinical assessment, breath analysis, and fingerprick blood) against enzyme immunoassay blood concentration analysis in a tertiary hospital trauma setting with 1000 patients. Finally, selected alcohol diagnostic tools will be tested in a district hospital setting with a further 1000 patients alongside community-based participatory research on the use of the selected tools. RESULTS Pilot data are being collected, and the protocol will be modified based on the results. CONCLUSIONS Through this project, we hope to identify and validate the most appropriate methods of diagnosing alcohol-related injury and violence in a clinical setting. The 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. The findings will be disseminated to relevant national and provincial government departments, policy experts, and clinicians. Additionally, we will engage in media advocacy and with our stakeholders, including community representatives, work through several nonprofit partners to reach civil society organizations and share findings. In addition, we will publish findings in scientific journals. INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT DERR1-10.2196/52949