Differences in injury rates in child motor vehicle passengers in rural and urban areas in New South Wales, July 2000 to June 2004
- Authors: Du, Wei , Finch, Caroline , Hayen, Andrew , Hatfield, Julie
- Date: 2007
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health Vol. 31, no. 5 (2007), p. 483-488
- Full Text: false
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- Description: Objectives: To investigate whether the pattern of hospitalised injuries in injured child motor vehicle passengers involved in traffic crashes differs in rural and urban residents of New South Wales (NSW). Methods: This study compared injuries of hospitalised child motor vehicle passengers resident in rural areas with those from urban areas. The NSW Inpatient Statistics Collection (ISC), a population-based dataset, was used to select cases for the period of July 2000 to June 2004. The hospitalised injury rate was calculated according to urban/rural status using Poisson regression, injury rate ratios (IRR) comparing rural and urban children were computed overall and for specific injury types. Results: Overall, 1,286 children (aged 0-15 years) residing in NSW were identified from the NSW ISC internally linked datasets as being separated from hospital for injuries resulting from a motor vehicle crash. The overall hospitalised injury incidence rates for child motor vehicle passengers resident in rural and urban NSW areas were 46.75 (95% CI 36.63-59.66) and 20.13 (95% CI 17.94-22.58) per 100,000 children respectively. The rural/urban IRR for comparing the incidence of hospitalisation was significantly elevated (IRR=2.10, 95% CI 1.78-2.48).The IRR was also significantly elevated across most injury types. The largest risk disparity between rural and urban children was in 9-12 year-olds (IRR=2.33, 95% CI 1.73-3.13). Conclusion and Implications: There is an elevated injury incidence rate in rural resident children, compared with their urban counterparts. This differential should be addressed in future road safety initiatives. © 2007 The Authors. Journal Compilation © 2007 Public Health Association of Australia.
- Description: C1
- Description: 2003005762
Evidence to support changes to child restraint legislation
- Authors: Du, Wei , Finch, Caroline , Bilston, Lynne
- Date: 2008
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Medical Journal of Australia Vol. 189, no. 10 (2008), p. 598
- Full Text: false
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