Background The disability-adjusted life year (DALY) that combines years of life lost from injury mortality (YLL) and year-equivalents of healthy life lost from non-fatal injury (YLD) has being increasingly recognised as a valuable tool for priority setting in injury management.

Aim/Objectives/Purpose To assess the total burden of injury in New Zealand in 2006 (projected to 2016) in DALYs and to analyse the distribution of this burden by both the external cause of injury (E-code) and the nature of injury (N-code).

Methods Total burden of injury was estimated from the national mortality, hospital discharge and ACC claims datasets. Both short-term and long-term impacts of injury are assessed in 36 N-code categories and 10 E-code categories.

Results/Outcomes 75% of total injury DALYs are associated with fatal injury, 25% with non-fatal injury (3% from short-term effects and 22% from long-term effects). By E-code, the leading causes of the DALYs are transportation accident, self-inflicted injury, falls and mechanical force. By N-code, the leading causes of the DALYs are TBI, fractures, internal injury and toxic effects. The highest age-specific DALY rates are found in the age groups of 15–29 and 65+. Compared with non-Maori, Maori have higher age-standardised DALY rates for transportation accidents, self-inflicted injury, violence, TBI, internal injury and maxillofacial fracture. Compared with people living in least deprived areas, people living in the most deprived areas have higher age and ethnicity standardised DALY rates of violence, mechanical force-related injury, TBI and burns.

Significance/Contribution to the Field There are clear patterns of injury burdens among main injury categories. These patterns need to be considered for setting priorities for injury management.