Differences in the epidemiology of out-of-hospital and in-hospital trauma deaths.

Bibliographic Details
Title: Differences in the epidemiology of out-of-hospital and in-hospital trauma deaths.
Authors: Ben Beck, Karen Smith, Eric Mercier, Belinda Gabbe, Richard Bassed, Biswadev Mitra, Warwick Teague, Josine Siedenburg, Susan McLellan, Peter Cameron
Source: PLoS ONE, Vol 14, Iss 6, p e0217158 (2019)
Publisher Information: Public Library of Science (PLoS), 2019.
Publication Year: 2019
Collection: LCC:Medicine
LCC:Science
Subject Terms: Medicine, Science
More Details: BackgroundTrauma is a leading cause of mortality. Holistic views of trauma systems consider injury as a public health problem that requires efforts in primary, secondary and tertiary prevention. However, the performance of trauma systems is commonly judged on the in-hospital mortality rate. Such a focus misses opportunities to consider all deaths within a population, to understand differences in in-hospital and out-of-hospital trauma deaths and to inform population-level injury prevention efforts. The aim of this study was to provide an epidemiological overview of out-of-hospital and in-hospital trauma deaths in a geographically-defined area over a 10-year period.MethodsWe performed a population-based review of out-of-hospital and in-hospital trauma deaths over the period of 01 July 2006 to 30 June 2016 in Victoria, Australia, using data from the National Coronial Information System and the Victorian State Trauma Registry. Temporal trends in population-based incidence rates were evaluated.ResultsOver the study period, there were 11,246 trauma deaths, of which 71% were out-of-hospital deaths. Out-of-hospital trauma deaths commonly resulted from intentional self-harm events (50%) and transport events (35%), while in-hospital trauma deaths commonly resulted from low falls (≤1 metre) (50%). The incidence of overall trauma deaths did not change over the study period (incidence rate ratio 0.998; 95%CI: 0.991, 1.004; P = 0.56).ConclusionsOut-of-hospital deaths accounted for most trauma deaths. Given the notable differences between out-of-hospital and in-hospital trauma deaths, monitoring of all trauma deaths is necessary to inform injury prevention activities and to reduce trauma mortality. The absence of a change in the incidence of both out-of-hospital and in-hospital trauma deaths demonstrates the need for enhanced activities across all aspects of injury prevention.
Document Type: article
File Description: electronic resource
Language: English
ISSN: 1932-6203
Relation: https://doaj.org/toc/1932-6203
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0217158
Access URL: https://doaj.org/article/ee2afdf5300543a2b711270456b0f991
Accession Number: edsdoj.2afdf5300543a2b711270456b0f991
Database: Directory of Open Access Journals
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More Details
ISSN:19326203
DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0217158
Published in:PLoS ONE
Language:English