Skip to main content
PMC home page
American Journal of Public Health logoLink to American Journal of Public Health
. 1989 Mar;79(3):316–321. doi: 10.2105/ajph.79.3.316

Incidence, causes and severity of injuries in Aquitaine, France: a community-based study of hospital admissions and deaths.

L Tiret 1, B Garros 1, P Maurette 1, V Nicaud 1, M Thicoipe 1, F Hatton 1, P Erny 1
PMCID: PMC1349555  PMID: 2916718

Abstract

This paper reports the results of a study of injuries conducted during a one-year period within a defined geographic population of 2.7 million persons (Aquitaine, France). Cases were defined as unintentional or intentional injuries, either resulting in immediate death before reaching hospital or requiring hospital admission. During the one-year period, 1,181 deaths were registered and 8,190 hospital admissions occurred during the sample periods. The three leading causes of injury were falls (40 per cent), traffic accidents (27 per cent), and poisonings (15 per cent). The overall incidence of injuries was 136 per 10,000 person years. Incidence by sex and age was assessed for the main external causes. The ratios of nonfatal to fatal cases were calculated by sex and age and by external cause. The origin of the injury was suicide in 14 per cent of cases and assault or homicide in 3 per cent. The severity of injuries, assessed using an automatic computation of the Injury Severity Score (ISS), ranged from 1 to 66 with a mean of 6.9. Substantial variations of ISS were observed according to external cause. At the 8th day following admission, 31 per cent of hospital-treated patients were still hospitalized and 0.8 per cent had died in hospital. The outcome correlated well with the ISS.

Full text

PDF

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Baker S. P., O'Neill B., Haddon W., Jr, Long W. B. The injury severity score: a method for describing patients with multiple injuries and evaluating emergency care. J Trauma. 1974 Mar;14(3):187–196. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Barancik J. I., Chatterjee B. F., Greene Y. C., Michenzi E. M., Fife D. Northeastern Ohio trauma study: I. Magnitude of the problem. Am J Public Health. 1983 Jul;73(7):746–751. doi: 10.2105/ajph.73.7.746. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Barancik J. I., Chatterjee B. F. Methodological considerations in the use of the abbreviated injury scale in trauma epidemiology. J Trauma. 1981 Aug;21(8):627–631. doi: 10.1097/00005373-198108000-00006. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Budnick L. D., Chaiken B. P. The probability of dying of injuries by the year 2000. JAMA. 1985 Dec 20;254(23):3350–3352. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Christian M. S. Morbidity and mortality of car occupants: comparative survey over 24 months. Br Med J (Clin Res Ed) 1984 Dec 1;289(6457):1525–1526. doi: 10.1136/bmj.289.6457.1525. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Fife D., Barancik J. I., Chatterjee B. F. Northeastern Ohio Trauma Study: II. Injury rates by age, sex, and cause. Am J Public Health. 1984 May;74(5):473–478. doi: 10.2105/ajph.74.5.473. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Fife D., Faich G., Hollinshead W., Boynton W. Incidence and outcome of hospital-treated head injury in Rhode Island. Am J Public Health. 1986 Jul;76(7):773–778. doi: 10.2105/ajph.76.7.773. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Gallagher S. S., Finison K., Guyer B., Goodenough S. The incidence of injuries among 87,000 Massachusetts children and adolescents: results of the 1980-81 Statewide Childhood Injury Prevention Program Surveillance System. Am J Public Health. 1984 Dec;74(12):1340–1347. doi: 10.2105/ajph.74.12.1340. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Green A. R., Fairclough J., Sykes P. J. Epidemiology of burns in childhood. Burns Incl Therm Inj. 1984 Jun;10(5):368–371. doi: 10.1016/s0305-4179(84)80011-x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Greenspan L., McLellan B. A., Greig H. Abbreviated Injury Scale and Injury Severity Score: a scoring chart. J Trauma. 1985 Jan;25(1):60–64. doi: 10.1097/00005373-198501000-00010. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Jørgensen K. Use of the abbreviated injury scale in a hospital emergency room. Potential for research in accident epidemiology. Acta Orthop Scand. 1981 Jun;52(3):273–277. doi: 10.3109/17453678109050103. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Klauber M. R., Barrett-Connor E., Marshall L. F., Bowers S. A. The epidemiology of head injury: a prospective study of an entire community-San Diego County, California, 1978. Am J Epidemiol. 1981 May;113(5):500–509. doi: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a113125. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. MacKenzie E. J., Shapiro S., Eastham J. N. The Abbreviated Injury Scale and Injury Severity Score. Levels of inter- and intrarater reliability. Med Care. 1985 Jun;23(6):823–835. doi: 10.1097/00005650-198506000-00008. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. MacKenzie E. J., Shapiro S., Moody M., Siegel J. H., Smith R. T. Predicting posttrauma functional disability for individuals without severe brain injury. Med Care. 1986 May;24(5):377–387. doi: 10.1097/00005650-198605000-00001. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Pless I. B., Verreault R., Arsenault L., Frappier J. Y., Stulginskas J. The epidemiology of road accidents in childhood. Am J Public Health. 1987 Mar;77(3):358–360. doi: 10.2105/ajph.77.3.358. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Rossignol A. M., Boyle C. M., Locke J. A., Burke J. F. Hospitalized burn injuries in Massachusetts: an assessment of incidence and product involvement. Am J Public Health. 1986 Nov;76(11):1341–1343. doi: 10.2105/ajph.76.11.1341. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Runyan C. W., Kotch J. B., Margolis L. H., Buescher P. A. Childhood injuries in North Carolina: a statewide analysis of hospitalizations and deaths. Am J Public Health. 1985 Dec;75(12):1429–1432. doi: 10.2105/ajph.75.12.1429. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Taket A. Accident mortality in children, adolescents and young adults. World Health Stat Q. 1986;39(3):232–256. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Tursz A., Crost M., Guyot M. M., Pivault M. Childhood accidents: a registration in public and private medical facilities of a French health care area. Public Health. 1985 May;99(3):154–164. doi: 10.1016/s0033-3506(85)80105-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from American Journal of Public Health are provided here courtesy of American Public Health Association

RESOURCES