Scientific paperA population-based assessment of major trauma in a large Canadian region
Section snippets
Patient population
The Calgary Health Region (CHR) is a fully integrated, publicly funded health system that provides virtually all medical and surgical care to the residents of the cities of Calgary and Airdrie and approximately 20 nearby small towns, villages, and hamlets [21]. In the CHR, adult trauma services are regionalized to the Foothills Medical Centre, which is the only adult tertiary care trauma center servicing southern Alberta, Canada. All adult (≥18 years) victims of major traumatic injury as
General features of the study population
A total of 1,475 patients were victims of a major trauma during the study period for an overall annual adult incidence rate of 69.5 per 100,000 population (total population at risk over 3 years = 2,123,049). Three individuals had second discrete episodes of major trauma during the study period but the second episodes were excluded from analyses. Significant quarterly variations in trauma incidence were observed, with the highest incidence occurring between July and September (29%) and the
Comments
This study provides important information on the burden of illness associated with major trauma in a nonselected Canadian population and identifies demographic groups at the highest risk for acquiring major injury. We used an active, prospective, population-based surveillance methodology that is regarded widely as optimal for defining the cause of a health condition [9], [24], [27]. An important threat to the validity of this design is the comprehensive identification of all patients fulfilling
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