Research Articles
Alcohol-influenced recreational boat operation in the United States, 1994

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Abstract

Background: There were 783 recreational boating fatalities in the United States in 1994. One contributor to this toll is alcohol-influenced operation of boats. Our study objective was to determine the prevalence of alcohol-influenced motor boat operation, and describe its relationship to demographic factors and other risk behaviors.

Methods: In 1994, a randomly dialed national telephone survey contacted 5238 adult respondents who reported on their operation of motor boats, alcohol use, and other potential injury risk behaviors. Data were weighted to obtain national estimates and percentages.

Results: Of 597 respondents who operated a motor boat in 1994, 31% (206 respondents) reported doing so at least once while alcohol-influenced. Alcohol-influenced operation of a motor boat was significantly more likely among males, individuals between 25 and 34 years of age, and those with greater than a college education. Alcohol-influenced motor boat operation was also more common among those who drove motor vehicles while alcohol-influenced, and those who drove a motor vehicle without using a seat belt.

Conclusions: To decrease alcohol-influenced boating, new strategies should be developed. Strategies used to decrease drinking and driving motor vehicles may prove adaptable to preventing alcohol-influenced boating. More effective means of monitoring alcohol-influenced boating is needed. Alcohol use by passengers on boats should not be overlooked as a problem.

Section snippets

Background

A lcohol consumption is involved in a significant number of water-related fatalities.1, 2 Of the 783 recreational boating fatalities in the United States in 1994, 14% were alcohol related. Indeed, the proportion of alcohol related boating fatalities has climbed in recent years to an all time high; 1991 = 19%, 1992 = 20%, 1993 = 20%, 1994 = 14%, 1995 = 21%, and 1996 = 27% (personal communications: Bruce Schmidt, US Coast Guard, Office of Boating Safety, Recreational Boating Program Management

Methods

The Injury Control and Risk Survey (ICARIS) was conducted by Battelle and DataStat through funding by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Telephone numbers of households from all 50 states and the District of Columbia were selected randomly from a proprietary database containing telephone exchanges with at least 2 listed telephone numbers. Telephone exchanges with greater than 10% of households occupied by minorities were oversampled to increase minority representation. At least 6

Results

Of respondents, 1136 (weighted 23%) reported motor boating in the past 12 months and 597 (weighted 12%) reported operating a motor boat. Operation of a motor boat was associated with several characteristics including gender, age, household income, education level, and marital status (Table 1). Among motor boat operators, operators were significantly more likely to be male, between 25 and 34 years of age, have a household income exceeding $50,000 per year, and to be married.

Among all respondents

Discussion

This survey estimated that 31% of Americans who reported operating a motor boat during 1994 did so at least once while alcohol-influenced. This estimate is similar to the 29% to 32% estimates of studies of all boaters 4, 5, 6 dating back to 1988. This similarity suggests the occurrence of alcohol-influenced boating has not decreased significantly since 1988. This study also suggested that alcohol-influenced use of a motor boat is associated with other risk taking behaviors, such as driving a

Acknowledgements

The following are members of the ICARIS (Injury Control and Risk Survey) project which designed and conducted the survey from which these data were obtained: Principal investigator: Jeffrey J. Sacks, MD, MPH. Project core group: Barbara Houston, Marcie-jo Kresnow, MS, Joann M. O’Neil, BA, and Suzanne M. Smith, MD, MPH, of NCIPC; James Hersey, PhD, Rick Williams, PhD, and Aiman Zeid, MS, of Battelle; Sherry Marcy, MPH and Deborah J. Zivan, BA of DataStat. Project associates: Julie Bolen, PhD,

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