Presenting Author:

Suzanne McLone, M.P.H.

Principal Investigator:

Maryann Mason, Ph.D.

Department:

Pediatrics

Keywords:

alcohol, homicide, epidemiology

Location:

Third Floor, Feinberg Pavilion, Northwestern Memorial Hospital

PH33 - Public Health & Social Sciences

Alcohol toxicology in victims of homicide: 2005, 2010 and 2015

Background: We examined the patterns of post-mortem positive alcohol toxicology in victims of homicide by victim demographics at three time points. Methods: We used data from the Illinois Violent Death Reporting System (IVDRS). The following cases were included in the analysis: manner of death was homicide; victims were ages 15 years and older; the date of death occurred in 2005, 2010 and 2015; the injury leading to death and the death itself occurred in Cook, DuPage, Kane, McHenry, and Peoria Counties. The differences in factors associated with positive post-mortem alcohol toxicology results over time were analyzed using the Mantel-Haenszel chi-square (MH 2 ) test of trend. Results: There was a statistically significant decrease over time in the percentage of homicide victims overall who tested positive for alcohol: 40.3%, 34.3% and 27.5% in 2005, 2010 and 2015, respectively (MH 2 test of trend, p<0.001). By victim demographics, significant decreases of positive alcohol toxicology occurred among homicide victims who were black (MH 2 test of trend, p<0.001), male (MH 2 test of trend, p<0.001), and aged 15 to 29 years (MH 2 test of trend, p<0.001). Conclusions: Examining alcohol toxicology results in homicide victims over time has the potential to inform targeted violence prevention efforts. Furthermore, IVDRS is a potent tool in elucidating these associations and patterns.