International journal of injury control and safety promotion
-
Int J Inj Contr Saf Promot · Sep 2009
Motorcycle accident injury profiles in Jamaica: an audit from the University Hospital of the West Indies.
There is little data available on the prevalence of motorcycle accidents, their resultant injuries and the demand on the health care services in Jamaica. We performed a descriptive, analytical study to evaluate the extent of this problem and the need for preventative national policy measures. Between 1 January 2000 and 1 January 2007, demographic and clinical data on all motorcycle accident victims admitted to the University Hospital of the West Indies were collected in a prospective database. ⋯ Motorcycle accidents take a heavy toll on this health care facility in Jamaica. Measures to prevent motorcycle accidents and reduce consequent injuries may be one way in which legislators can preserve precious resources that are spent during these incidents. This can be achieved through active measures such as educational campaigns, adherence to traffic regulations and enforcement of helmet laws.
-
Int J Inj Contr Saf Promot · Sep 2009
Examination of triage nurse text narratives to identify sports injury cases in emergency department presentations.
Narrative text can be a useful means of identifying injury in routine data collections. An analysis of data from a near real-time emergency department surveillance system (NREDSS) in New South Wales (NSW, Australia) was conducted to determine if sports injuries can be identified from routine narrative text recorded in emergency departments. ⋯ Routine narrative text descriptions from triage nurse assessments show promise for the identification of sports injury presentations to EDs. Further work is required regarding in-depth assessment of case detection capabilities and the likelihood of improving the quality of narrative text recorded.
-
The importance of road traffic injuries in Turkey is not generally appreciated, in part due to lack of knowledge of its economic burden and in part due to major underestimation in official statistics. The total years of potential life lost and potentially productive years of life lost from mortality were calculated in order to estimate the cost of productivity losses from road traffic deaths in Turkey. ⋯ This study highlights the importance of accurate information in ameliorating the burden of road traffic safety in Turkey. Turkey has great opportunities to implement cost-effective interventions to reduce the economic burden of fatal and non-fatal road traffic injuries.
-
Int J Inj Contr Saf Promot · Dec 2007
Risk factors and geographical heterogeneity in unintentional home injuries incidence rate: new evidence based on Multiscopo survey in Italy.
Home injuries together, with road traffic accidents, are estimated to be the third cause of death in Italy (Arokiasamy and Krishnan 1994). However, as in most other countries, in Italy there is a lack of information on home injuries and on how differences in geographical patterns may influence the scope and magnitude of this phenomenon. By analysing a multipurpose large survey (Multiscopo) carried out annually, geographical heterogeneity in home injuries incidence rate can be investigated. ⋯ The geographical heterogeneity may be due to the unemployment rate and the incidence of poverty that is greater in the Southern and Insular regions than in other zones. Other socio-economic variables such as alcohol consumption can increase the risk of injury in the home. To prevent them it could be useful to organize campaigns aimed at increasing the awareness among people about this problem.
-
Int J Inj Contr Saf Promot · Jun 2007
Linking drinking to injury--causal attribution of injury to alcohol intake among patients in a Swedish emergency room.
This study analysed the drinking patterns and motivation to change drinking behaviours among injury patients who acknowledged alcohol as a factor in their injuries. A cross-sectional study was conducted over 18 months at a Swedish emergency department. A total of 1930 injury patients aged 18 - 70 years were enrolled in the study (76.8% completion rate). ⋯ A patient was more likely to report a causal attribution of the injury to alcohol the higher the weekly intake and the higher the frequency of heavy episodic drinking. The motivation to change variables showed a similar pattern of increased likelihood of attributing a causal link of alcohol and injury with increasing discontent with drinking behaviours and increasing desire to change drinking behaviours. The findings suggest that the ability to measure causal attribution of alcohol to injuries could be a promising tool to help patients explore the association between their injuries and alcohol use and motivate patients to modify drinking behaviours in order to avoid future injuries.