Injury prevention : journal of the International Society for Child and Adolescent Injury Prevention
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To assess the usefulness of a centralised injury database in monitoring progress towards nationally set health targets for the reduction of childhood injuries. ⋯ Proximity to accident and emergency departments is a strong determinant of the use of the service by children with overall injuries, and injuries occurring at home. The lack of a significant association between travel distance and injuries resulting in fractures suggests that it is more meaningful to use a centralised database of accident and emergency department attendances to monitor the more severe spectrum of childhood injuries in assessing progress towards national targets for their reduction. The absence of an association between severe injuries and local socioeconomic factors suggests that national targets for the reduction of socioeconomic differentials in childhood injuries may need to be reassessed. These databases are also useful in generating information to direct preventive strategies and to target resources to areas of greatest need.