Characteristics and outcomes of injury patients in an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population—Queensland Trauma Registry, Australia

Abstract

Introduction There are few published data for the magnitude of injury-related health problems in indigenous people such as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders. The objective of our study was to compare the characteristics and outcomes of injury in the indigenous population to the non-indigenous population, who are living in Queensland, Australia. Methods Participants were injured patients who presented to the emergency department for treatment and admitted to 15 public hospitals participating in the Queensland Trauma Registry (QTR) during 2003–2005. Results Amongst 38,036 injured patients, 1847 patients were identified as indigenous and 35,530 as non-indigenous. Compared to the non-indigenous group, the indigenous group was significantly younger with no difference by gender. The injury severity score (ISS) and percentage of major injury (ISS ≥ 16) were lower in the indigenous group. Indigenous patients had a significantly higher percentage of penetrating type injuries compared to non-indigenous (19.5% vs. 12.5%). The age- and injury severity-adjusted mortality rate was also significantly higher in indigenous. In age-stratified logistic regression analysis, the injury severity-adjusted odds for mortality was 3.0 times higher [95% confidence interval (95% CI): 1.6–5.5] in the indigenous, compared to the non-indigenous group, in 40–64-year olds, whilst increased odds in other age groups were not statistically significant. Conclusion Our results indicate that middle-aged indigenous patients are more likely to die due to injury compared to non-indigenous patients. This suggests that strategies are required to improve outcomes particularly in the most affected injury patient group.