Skip to main content
PMC home page
Injury Prevention logoLink to Injury Prevention
. 2002 Mar;8(1):32–37. doi: 10.1136/ip.8.1.32

Adolescent injury morbidity in New Zealand, 1987–96

K Kypri 1, D Chalmers 1, J Langley 1, C Wright 1
PMCID: PMC1730831  PMID: 11928971

Abstract

Objectives: Adolescents are over-represented in injury statistics. New Zealand is privileged in having a hospital discharge database allowing for analysis of non-fatal injury data at a national level. An epidemiological description of adolescent injury morbidity is provided and options for prevention are discussed.

Method: People aged 15–19 years admitted to hospital for their injuries in the period 1987–96 were identified from the New Zealand Health Information Service morbidity data files. The manner, causes, and nature of injury were examined. Injury prevention strategies were reviewed.

Results: The incidence of hospitalised injury was 1886 per 100 000 person years. The victims were predominantly male (70%). The leading causes of injury were road traffic crashes, sports injuries, and self poisoning. The most common injury diagnoses were head injuries (29%) and limb fractures (21%). Road traffic crashes produced the highest proportion of serious injuries.

Conclusions: Road traffic crashes, sports injuries, and self inflicted poisoning, stood out as areas with the greatest potential for reducing the burden of injury in late adolescence. Graduated driver licensing shows promise as an injury prevention measure but remains inadequately implemented. Policies to reduce self inflicted poisoning are of unknown efficacy, and evidence is awaited on the effectiveness of measures to reduce injury in sport.

Full Text

The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (115.4 KB).

Selected References

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

  1. Beautrais A. L., Joyce P. R., Mulder R. T., Fergusson D. M., Deavoll B. J., Nightingale S. K. Prevalence and comorbidity of mental disorders in persons making serious suicide attempts: a case-control study. Am J Psychiatry. 1996 Aug;153(8):1009–1014. doi: 10.1176/ajp.153.8.1009. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Bird Y. N., Waller A. E., Marshall S. W., Alsop J. C., Chalmers D. J., Gerrard D. F. The New Zealand Rugby Injury and Performance Project: V. Epidemiology of a season of rugby injury. Br J Sports Med. 1998 Dec;32(4):319–325. doi: 10.1136/bjsm.32.4.319. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. DiGuiseppi C., Roberts I. Injury mortality among children and teenagers in England and Wales, 1992. Inj Prev. 1997 Mar;3(1):47–49. doi: 10.1136/ip.3.1.47. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Fingerhut L. A., Annest J. L., Baker S. P., Kochanek K. D., McLoughlin E. Injury mortality among children and teenagers in the United States, 1993. Inj Prev. 1996 Jun;2(2):93–94. doi: 10.1136/ip.2.2.93. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Hawton K., Cole D., O'Grady J., Osborn M. Motivational aspects of deliberate self-poisoning in adolescents. Br J Psychiatry. 1982 Sep;141:286–291. doi: 10.1192/bjp.141.3.286. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Kypri K., Chalmers D. J., Langley J. D., Wright C. S. Child injury morbidity in New Zealand, 1987-1996. J Paediatr Child Health. 2001 Jun;37(3):227–234. doi: 10.1046/j.1440-1754.2001.00668.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Langley J. D., Alsop J. C. Trends in motorcyclist and occupant fatalities and serious injuries due to traffic crashes. N Z Med J. 1998 Jul 24;111(1070):267–268. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Langley J. D., Chalmers D. J. Coding the circumstances of injury: ICD-10 a step forward or backwards? Inj Prev. 1999 Dec;5(4):247–253. doi: 10.1136/ip.5.4.247. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Langley J. D. Experiences using New Zealand's hospital based surveillance system for injury prevention research. Methods Inf Med. 1995 Sep;34(4):340–344. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Langley J. D., Smeijers J. Injury mortality among children and teenagers in New Zealand compared with the United States of America. Inj Prev. 1997 Sep;3(3):195–199. doi: 10.1136/ip.3.3.195. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Langley J. D., Wagenaar A. C., Begg D. J. An evaluation of the New Zealand graduated driver licensing system. Accid Anal Prev. 1996 Mar;28(2):139–146. doi: 10.1016/0001-4575(95)00040-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Langley J., Marshall S. W. The severity of road traffic crashes resulting in hospitalisation in New Zealand. Accid Anal Prev. 1994 Aug;26(4):549–554. doi: 10.1016/0001-4575(94)90046-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Langley J., Mullin B., Jackson R., Norton R. Motorcycle engine size and risk of moderate to fatal injury from a motorcycle crash. Accid Anal Prev. 2000 Sep;32(5):659–663. doi: 10.1016/s0001-4575(99)00101-3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Li G, Baker SP, Frattaroli S. Epidemiology and Prevention of Traffic-related Injuries Among Adolescents. Adolesc Med. 1995 Jun;6(2):135–152. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Mao Y., Zhang J., Robbins G., Clarke K., Lam M., Pickett W. Factors affecting the severity of motor vehicle traffic crashes involving young drivers in Ontario. Inj Prev. 1997 Sep;3(3):183–189. doi: 10.1136/ip.3.3.183. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Mayhew D. R., Donelson A. C., Beirness D. J., Simpson H. M. Youth, alcohol and relative risk of crash involvement. Accid Anal Prev. 1986 Aug;18(4):273–287. doi: 10.1016/0001-4575(86)90042-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Mullin B., Jackson R., Langley J., Norton R. Increasing age and experience: are both protective against motorcycle injury? A case-control study. Inj Prev. 2000 Mar;6(1):32–35. doi: 10.1136/ip.6.1.32. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Oakley-Browne M. A., Joyce P. R., Wells J. E., Bushnell J. A., Hornblow A. R. Christchurch Psychiatric Epidemiology Study, Part II: Six month and other period prevalences of specific psychiatric disorders. Aust N Z J Psychiatry. 1989 Sep;23(3):327–340. doi: 10.3109/00048678909068290. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Reeder A. I., Alsop J. C., Langley J. D., Wagenaar A. C. An evaluation of the general effect of the New Zealand graduated driver licensing system on motorcycle traffic crash hospitalisations. Accid Anal Prev. 1999 Nov;31(6):651–661. doi: 10.1016/s0001-4575(99)00024-x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Reeder A. I., Chalmers D. J., Langley J. D., Begg D. J. Motorcycling attitudes and behaviours. II. 14 and 15 year old adolescents. J Paediatr Child Health. 1992 Oct;28(5):387–394. doi: 10.1111/j.1440-1754.1992.tb02698.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. Reeder A. I., Chalmers D. J., Langley J. D. Motorcycling attitudes and behaviours. I. 12 and 13 year old adolescents. J Paediatr Child Health. 1992 Jun;28(3):225–230. doi: 10.1111/j.1440-1754.1992.tb02651.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. Reeder A. I., Chalmers D. J., Langley J. D. The risky and protective motorcycling opinions and behaviours of young on-road motorcyclists in New Zealand. Soc Sci Med. 1996 May;42(9):1297–1311. doi: 10.1016/0277-9536(95)00224-3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  23. Rivara F. P., Bergman A. B., LoGerfo J. P., Weiss N. S. Epidemiology of childhood injuries. II. Sex differences in injury rates. Am J Dis Child. 1982 Jun;136(6):502–506. doi: 10.1001/archpedi.1982.03970420026004. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  24. Sacco W. J., MacKenzie E. J., Champion H. R., Davis E. G., Buckman R. F. Comparison of alternative methods for assessing injury severity based on anatomic descriptors. J Trauma. 1999 Sep;47(3):441–447. doi: 10.1097/00005373-199909000-00001. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  25. Scott I., Moller J., Bordeaux S. Injury mortality among children and teenagers in Australia, 1994. Inj Prev. 1997 Mar;3(1):46–47. doi: 10.1136/ip.3.1.46. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  26. Waller A. E., Feehan M., Marshall S. W., Chalmers D. J. The New Zealand Rugby Injury and Performance Project: I. Design and methodology of a prospective follow-up study. Br J Sports Med. 1994 Dec;28(4):223–228. doi: 10.1136/bjsm.28.4.223. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Injury Prevention are provided here courtesy of BMJ Publishing Group

RESOURCES