Hospitalised hot tap water scald patients following the introduction of regulations in NSW, Australia : Who have we missed?
- Authors: Harvey, Lara , Poulos, Roslyn , Finch, Caroline , Olivier, Jake , Harvey, Jack
- Date: 2010
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Burns Vol. 36, no. 6 (2010), p. 912-919
- Relation: http://purl.org/au-research/grants/nhmrc/565900
- Full Text: false
- Reviewed:
- Description: Scalds from hot tap water are serious injuries that are potentially preventable by restricting the temperature of hot tap water delivery. In July 1999, regulations were introduced in NSW to require that all new hot water installations deliver water at temperatures not exceeding 50 °C to sanitary fixtures. This study investigates trends in hot tap water scald injury hospitalisations following the introduction of these regulations. Hot tap water scald cases for 1999-2007 were identified from hospitalisation data for all public and private hospitals in NSW. To investigate hot tap water scald hospitalisations over time, negative binomial regression analysis was performed. There were 845 hospitalisations for hot tap water scalds in NSW over the period of the study. Hospital admission rates for hot tap water scalds decreased by an estimated 6% (3.2-8.5, 95%CI) per year since the introduction of regulations. While those most at risk were infants, toddlers and the elderly, almost a third of hospitalisations were for adults (25-64 years). The majority of hot tap water scalds were sustained at home and a further 4% occurred in a residential institute or school. The majority of scalds were severe, and a quarter required admission for longer than a week. The introduction of regulations in NSW appears to have had a positive impact on the rates of hospitalisations for hot tap water scalds; however, scalds continue to cause significant morbidity and mortality. This highlights the need for a review of the scope and implementation of the existing regulations and ongoing education of the general public to the dangers of hot tap water. © 2009 Elsevier Ltd and ISBI.
Making burns count: The impact of varying case selection criteria on the identification of ICD-10 coded hospitalised burns
- Authors: Harvey, Lara , Poulos, Roslyn , Finch, Caroline
- Date: 2013
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Burns Vol. 39, no. 7 (2013), p. 1367-1373
- Relation: http://purl.org/au-research/grants/nhmrc/565900
- Full Text: false
- Reviewed:
- Description: Routinely collected hospitalisation data are widely used to monitor injury trends, provide estimates of the burden of injury and healthcare costs, and to inform policy. This study examined the impact of different ICD-10 based case selection criteria commonly used by Australian and international reporting bodies on the number and nature of burn-related hospitalisations identified. Methods Burn cases from a state-wide administrative hospitalisation dataset were identified and compared using three different case selection criteria: (1) principal diagnosis code of burn 'T20-T31', (2) first external cause code denoting burn 'X00-X19' and (3) both principal diagnosis code of community acquired injury 'S00-T98' and first external cause code denoting burn 'X00-X19'. Results Principal diagnosis codes 'T20-T31' and first external cause codes 'X00-X19' identified a similar number of cases, however only 78% of these were captured by both definitions. Principal diagnosis codes identified chemical, electrical and contact burns not identified as burns using external cause codes. First external cause codes identified readmission cases which were not identified by principal diagnosis codes. Using principal diagnosis codes of community acquired injury combined with external cause code of burn under-numerated hospitalisations by forty percent. Conclusion The development, implementation and evaluation of health policy and prevention measures rely on good quality, consistent data. Current methods for identifying burn cases in hospitalisation data provide wide differences in estimation of number and nature of cases. It is important for clinicians to understand the implications of coding on the epidemiology and measurement of the burden of burn. © 2013 Published by Elsevier Ltd and ISBI.