A comparison of self-reported motor vehicle collision injuries compared with official collision data: An analysis of age and sex trends using the Canadian National Population Health Survey and Transport Canada data

Abstract

Objective The purpose of this study was to compare the age and sex trends of motor vehicle collision injuries between a nationally representative self-report survey and official police motor vehicle collision report data. To do this, population-based estimates of motor vehicle collision injuries were established using data from the National Population Health Survey (NPHS), a prospective, population-based, longitudinal survey that was compared to Transport Canada's official motor vehicle collision report statistics. Methods Aggregated mean data (1994–1996) were compared for seven age groups (15–19, 20–24, 25–34, 35–44, 45–54, 55–64, and 65+) from both data sets. Results No significant differences were found between males’ and females’ MVC injuries for any age category in the NPHS. A comparison of the NPHS and Transport Canada data found two small (significant) within-sex differences between the data sets, but overall, the analysis largely revealed similar trends for self-reported injury for all age categories and sex. Conclusions The results indicate that the incidence of injuries based on self-report data in a nationally representative sample is similar to official sources of reporting and are thus a valid indicator or motor vehicle collision injury incidence. The results also confirm that injury trends differ from fatality trends.