By the Numbers: 27 January 2025

By the Numbers: 27 January 2025

25%
The percentage of adult Americans who binge drink weekly, according to a fact sheet from the Traumatic Brain Injury Center of Excellence -- Traumatic Brain Injury and Alcohol Misuse. This represents 1 in 6 U.S. adults.

  • Heavy drinking increases the risk of sustaining a TBI
  • TBI increases the odds of alcohol misuse and can lead to other health concerns
  • At the time of head injury, 23–53% of individuals exhibit alcohol intoxication. In the military, heavy alcohol consumption is 1.7 to 3.5 times more likely in service members with a TBI.

Understanding Binge Drinking

The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) defines binge drinking as a pattern of drinking alcohol that brings blood alcohol concentration (BAC) to 0.08%–or 0.08 grams of alcohol per deciliter–or higher. For a typical adult, this pattern corresponds to consuming five or more drinks (male), or four or more drinks (female), in about two hours.