Paper
The public health impact of minor injury

https://doi.org/10.1016/0001-4575(96)00012-7Get rights and content

Abstract

The mortality and hospital morbidity data usually used to quantify the burden of injury are generally considered to represent only the tip of the iceberg. This article documents the population-based morbidity arising from non-hospitalised injuries and demonstrates the public health importance of this group of injuries. A prospective cohort study was conducted in an Australian population using a sample of injured adults to identify the health outcomes arising from the range of injuries. The total health loss caused by injury experienced by these subjects over the period of injury recovery was calculated and then weighted to provide population estimates. This study has shown that minor injuries are responsible for the greater part of the injury-related health burden in the adult community. Injuries that can be coded as 1 on the Abbreviated Injury Scale account for 80% of the morbidity arising over the first six months after injury and about 75% of the estimated lifetime morbidity. The lifetime estimates of morbidity resulting from injuries not considered serious enough to admit to hospital were of an order of magnitude higher than those that resulted in either death or hospitalisation. Sprains contributed as much to the total morbidity as all other injuries types combined and limb injuries contributed more to the total morbidity than injuries to the more central structures. The results of this study provide a strong argument for the recognition of the public health importance of minor injury. Strategies for the prevention and management of minor injury must be included in national programmes for injury control.

References (11)

  • D.W. Yates et al.

    A system for measuring the severity of temporary and permanent disability after injury

    Accid. Anal. Prev.

    (1991)
  • Australian Bureau of Statistics

    Australian Demographic Statistics September quarter 1992

    (1993)
  • Australian Bureau of Statistics

    Deaths Australia

    (1993)
  • Australian Institute of Health and Welfare

    Australia's Health 1992

    (1992)
  • W.D. Kalsbeek et al.

    Choosing criteria to screen for specific medical conditions from non specific sources: an application to injury surveillance

    Am. J. Epidemiol.

    (1992)
There are more references available in the full text version of this article.

Cited by (51)

  • A review of the revised Functional Capacity Index as a predictor of 12 month outcomes following injury

    2017, Injury
    Citation Excerpt :

    Variability in outcome prediction between more and less severe injury is not unique to the pFCI [56], but remains an important limitation of this and other panel-derived tools. The considerable population morbidity arising from minor trauma has also been noted elsewhere [57,58]. The development, initial testing and preliminary validation of the original pFCI was sponsored and partly conducted by the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration [13–15,29,30,49].

  • Inclusion of 'minor' trauma cases provides a better estimate of the total burden of injury: Queensland Trauma Registry provides a unique perspective

    2014, Injury
    Citation Excerpt :

    Over a 6-year period (2005–2010), minor cases (ISS ≤ 12) accounted for almost 90% of all trauma included on the QTR. Previous analyses of Queensland and Western Australian data have reported similar percentages of minor injury cases [16,28]. Although these cases were classified as ‘minor trauma’ in terms of injury severity and threat to life, the injuries sustained were still serious enough to warrant admission to hospital for 24 h or more for acute treatment, and can include injuries such as fractures to multiple body regions, burns to up to 30% of the body, below-elbow and below-knee amputations, and penetrating injuries with up to 20% blood loss [20].

  • Standardising trauma monitoring: The development of a minimum dataset for trauma registries in Australia and New Zealand

    2013, Injury
    Citation Excerpt :

    There are problems with only focusing on major trauma, as a substantial proportion of the total population injury burden will be missed.32,33 This may have ramifications for the appropriateness of decisions related to funding for trauma care.33 Also, there remains some doubt as to the utility of outcomes data collected at the end of acute care in predicting long-term functional outcomes.6,10,34

  • Longer term health of young and middle-aged adults following unintentional falls at home resulting in hospitalisation

    2012, Injury
    Citation Excerpt :

    Our findings are not representative of individuals with less severe forms of physical injury, who may (or may not) receive care in primary care or emergency department settings. Although these injuries may not pose a threat to life, they could pose significant risks of longer term disability.28 Whilst the pre-injury health status was ascertained after the injury, the risk of bias with respect to differential recall of health by those with and without longer term adverse outcomes was minimised by collecting baseline information as close to the initial event as was ethically possible.

View all citing articles on Scopus
View full text