Abstract
BackgroundInjury is a major cause of mortality and morbidity of young people and the cost-effectiveness of many injury prevention programs remains uncertain. This study aimed to analyze the costs and benefits of an injury awareness education program, the P.A.R.T.Y. (Prevent Alcohol and Risk-related Trauma in Youth) program, for juvenile justice offenders in Western Australia.MethodsCosts and benefits analysis based on effectiveness data from a linked-data cohort study on 225 juvenile justice offenders who were referred to the education program and 3434 who were not referred to the program between 2006 and 2011.ResultsDuring the study period, there were 8869 hospitalizations and 113 deaths due to violence or traffic-related injuries among those aged between 14 and 21 in Western Australia. The mean length of hospital stay was 4.6 days, a total of 320 patients (3.6%) needed an intensive care admission with an average length of stay of 6 days. The annual cost saved due to serious injury was $3,765 and the annual net cost of running this program was $33,735. The estimated cost per offence prevented, cost per serious injury avoided, and cost per undiscounted and discounted life year gained were $3,124, $42,169, $8,268 and $17,910, respectively. Increasing the frequency of the program from once per month to once per week would increase its cost-effectiveness substantially.ConclusionsThe P.A.R.T.Y. injury education program involving real-life trauma scenarios was cost-effective in reducing subsequent risk of committing violence or traffic-related offences, injuries, and death for juvenile justice offenders in Western Australia.
Highlights
Injury is a major cause of mortality and morbidity of young people and the cost-effectiveness of many injury prevention programs remains uncertain
In Western Australia, about 2,500 to 3,000 hospitalizations each year are related to injuries from motor vehicle accidents [2]
The main focus of this program was on high school students, this program was provided to traffic-related juvenile justice offenders who were referred to this program by juvenile justice court magistrates on an ad hoc basis
Summary
Injury is a major cause of mortality and morbidity of young people and the cost-effectiveness of many injury prevention programs remains uncertain. (Prevent Alcohol and Risk-related Trauma in Youth) program, for juvenile justice offenders in Western Australia. In Western Australia, about 2,500 to 3,000 hospitalizations each year are related to injuries from motor vehicle accidents [2]. The population incidence of head injury, mostly due to motor vehicle accidents or assaults, in Western Australia is approximately 20 per 100,000 person-years (95% confidence interval: 17–22), resulting in severe disability in a significant. Evidence to support the cost-effectiveness and economic aspects of many health education interventions in reducing physical injury remains uncertain [10,11]. Our recent study showed that participation in an injury education program involving real-life trauma scenarios was associated with a reduced subsequent risk of committing violence or traffic-related offences, injuries, and death for juvenile justice offenders [12]. We hypothesized that from a health service perspective this injury education program is cost-effective, and conducted an economic analysis on this injury awareness program for juvenile justice offenders
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
