You are here

Article Text

Article menu
Download PDFPDF
Original Article
An evaluation of police reporting of road casualties
  1. S Jeffrey1,
  2. D H Stone1,
  3. A Blamey2,
  4. D Clark3,
  5. C Cooper4,
  6. K Dickson5,
  7. M Mackenzie6,
  8. K Major7
  1. 1
    Paediatric Epidemiology and Community Health (PEACH) Unit, Faculty of Medicine, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK
  2. 2
    NHS Health Scotland, Glasgow, UK
  3. 3
    Information Services Division, NHS National Services Scotland, Edinburgh, UK
  4. 4
    Information Resources, Strathclyde Police, Glasgow, UK
  5. 5
    Department of Strategic Planning & Performance, NHS Ayrshire & Arran, Ayr, UK
  6. 6
    Department of Urban Studies, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK
  7. 7
    NHS Ayrshire and Arran, Ayr, UK
  1. Professor D H Stone, Paediatric Epidemiology and Community Health (PEACH) Unit, Department of Child Health, Division of Developmental Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Glasgow, Yorkhill Hospital, Glasgow G3 8SJ, UK; d.h.stone{at}clinmed.gla.ac.uk

Abstract

Background: Under-reporting of road traffic casualties in police records has been well documented.

Objectives: To investigate the extent and nature of possible under-reporting of road traffic casualties in the West of Scotland.

Design: A linked database comprising both police data (STATS19) and hospital in-patient records (SMR01) was created. The study period was 1997–2005 inclusive. Contrasting the number of SMR01-identified road casualties that were also recorded (“linked”) in STATS19 records with those that were not (“unlinked”) gives an indication of the extent and types of under-reporting of hospitalized road casualties by the police.

Results: 45% of hospital admissions due to road casualties were not reported to (or recorded by) the police. The STATS19 “slight casualties” that were linked to the SMR01 data was the only category that showed an increase in numbers (+4%) over the study period, whereas the numbers of STATS19 KSI (killed or seriously injured—combining fatal and serious casualties) decreased substantially (−38%). Pedal cyclists and motorcyclists were most likely to be missed by police recording. No third-party involvement, older casualties, females, length of stay in hospital (day cases), and earlier year of crash were also significantly associated with under-reporting.

Conclusions: A general decline in the completeness of STATS19 is unlikely to have occurred, but there may have been an increasing tendency over time for police officers to report injuries as slight rather than serious. To improve the quality of this information, routine linkage of road casualty data derived from police and hospitalization databases should be considered.

https://doi.org/10.1136/ip.2008.018630

Statistics from Altmetric.com

    Request Permissions

    If you wish to reuse any or all of this article please use the link below which will take you to the Copyright Clearance Center’s RightsLink service. You will be able to get a quick price and instant permission to reuse the content in many different ways.

    View Full Text

    Footnotes

    • ▸ Additional tables and a figure are published online only at http://injuryprevention.bmj.com/content/vol15/issue1

    • Contributors: SJ initiated and analyzed the linked data set, co-originated, drafted, and revised the paper; DHS co-conceived the study, co-originated the paper, and contributed to its drafting and revision; AB co-conceived the study, co-originated the paper, and contributed to its drafting and revision; DC linked the STATS19 records to the SMR01 records, provided information on the SMR01 records, linkage procedure and estimated the quality of the linked data; CC retrieved the STATS19 records, provided information on STATS19 and police practice, and assisted with the drafting and revision of the paper; KD co-conceived the study, co-originated the paper, and contributed to its drafting and revision; MM co-conceived the study, co-originated the paper, and contributed to its drafting and revision; KM co-conceived the study, co-originated the paper, and contributed to its drafting and revision.

    • Competing interests: None.