Abstract
BackgroundThe aim of the study is to identify which types of injuries are responsible for a major component of the health burden in a population-based children cohort in North-Eastern Italy.MethodsAll children (1–13 years) residing in Veneto region, who were hospitalized in 2008 with a International Classification of Diseases, ninth edition, Clinical Modification (ICD-9-CM) code for injury in the first diagnostic field were considered. The outcome was defined as the difference in hospital use in the 12 months following the injury and it was compared to the year preceding the injury occurrence. We computed hospitalization rates by gender, age class and injury type.ResultsHospitalization rates for injury are highest in males, especially among school-aged children. Rates for intracranial injury exhibit a more pronounced decline with age in females, whereas a more marked rise in upper limb fracture rates among school-aged males is observed. Overall, 3 days of hospital stay per child are attributable to injury. Burns, skull fracture and a high injury severity are associated with a greater number of additional inpatient days.ConclusionsThe impact of specific injury types on health services utilization varies with gender, age and severity. These observed patterns contribute to build a clearer picture of this leading global public health problem and deserve more attention in planning preventive strategies and resource allocation.
Highlights
The aim of the study is to identify which types of injuries are responsible for a major component of the health burden in a population-based children cohort in North-Eastern Italy
Data collection across relevant sectors or surveillance systems to quantify the demographic, socioeconomic and epidemiological profile of the burden of child injury is needed to assure that the resources available are commensurate with the extent of the problem
The aim of the present study is to identify the injury patterns responsible for a major component of the health burden in a cohort of children in a NorthEastern region of Italy, assessing the difference in hospital use in the 12 months following the injury compared to the year preceding the injury occurrence
Summary
The aim of the study is to identify which types of injuries are responsible for a major component of the health burden in a population-based children cohort in North-Eastern Italy. Injuries in childhood and adolescence have a major impact on individual and population health causing, even in high-income countries, a high disability and mortality burden. Burden of disease estimates are increasingly being used to support health-policy decisions relating to clinical, preventive and health services activity [6]. Such estimates differ, though, depending on how information is obtained. On the other hand population-based surveys can yield estimates of the total burden of injuries across a broad spectrum of injury severity but they often include insufficient sample sizes for studying small population subgroups and are subject to recall errors [7]
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