Comparison of Breath Alcohol Screening Test Results with Alcohol Concentration in Venous Blood in Drivers During Traffic Inspection.

Background: Alcohol has been demonstrated to impair an individual's cognitive and motor abilities, resulting in a range of adverse consequences. Moreover, the probability of vehicular accidents is elevated in the aftermath of alcohol-impaired driving. The objective of this study was to evaluate the concordance between alcohol breath tests and blood alcohol tests used to determine alcohol levels, as well as the effect of time.

Methods: This study was conducted retrospectively in a tertiary education and research hospital. The objective of this study was to analyze the relationship between the results of alcohol breath tests performed by traffic police officers in the field and the ethanol levels detected in the blood after hospital admission.

Results: The present study encompassed 500 participants, with a mean age of 35.63 years (± 9.92) and a female percentage of 13.6%. The mean alcohol breath test result was 0.64 ± 0.35 per mill, while the mean blood alcohol test result was 0.40 ± 0.32. A comparison of the two sets of results revealed a deviation of 0.12 per mill between 0 and 1 hour without correction, which was statistically significant (p = 0.001). Additionally, a deviation of 0.202 per mill was observed between 0 and 2 hours (p = 0.001), and a deviation of 0.04 per mill was detected after correction according to time (p = 0.0015).

Conclusions: The alcohol breath test (ABT) exhibits a correspondence with the blood ethanol test (BET), thereby permitting the safe use of the ABT performed at the scene.