Objective To explore the relationship between morbidity, hospitalisation, mortality from Road Traffic Injuries (RTI) and Home Injuries (HI) and socioeconomic status (SES) of the area of residence. Source: RTI and HI surveillance based on the integration between the Emergency Department (ED) Hospital and Mortality data of Lazio region. The SES index (five levels: 1 most privileged areas; 5 most deprived areas) was derived using census data. For each injured subject the SES index of its census tract of residence was obtained.

Population Residents in Rome, 2005 Italy.

Analyses For each level of SES, we computed rates for ED visits, hospitalisation and mortality, adjusted by sex and age. IRR and 95% CI have been estimated using Poisson Regression.

Results Out of 127 129 ED visits, 9576 (7.5%) were followed by a hospitalisation and 594 (0.5%) died within 30 days. SES was estimated for 109 993 cases, 87% of the total. The rates of RTI and HI ED visits were higher among the most deprived level of SES (IRR 1.27 95% CI 1.24 to 1.30; IRR 1.33 95% CI 1.29 to 1.37, respectively) compared to the most privileged ones. A strong relation was found between RTI mortalities and poor level of SES. These findings were more marked for 0–4 year old HI and RTI injured and for males.

Conclusion RTI and HI incidence were associated to sociodemographic factors. This finding has implications for targeting injury prevention interventions and resources.