Types of information (variables)
The Injury Register focuses on the external causes of injuries, as knowledge about these factors is important for the interpretation of the sequence of events leading to injury. Based on this knowledge, it may be possible to design interventions that can prevent similar incidents in future. The circumstances leading to injury are characterised by the following types of information:
Place of occurrence describes the location of the accident (residential area, transport area, school/institutional area, etc.)
Mechanism of injury describes how harmful forces are vectored onto the victim’s body at the moment of injury, e.g. struck, hit (by falls), pinched/caught between, cut, poisoning, contact with heat or cold, etc.
Activity describes the purpose of the victim’s action at the time of injury, i.e. the type of activity, e.g. play, sports or athletics, working (for income) or unpaid work (e.g. household chores), etc. The type of sports or athletics further describes accidents occurring in relation to sports.
Occupational and traffic accidents are described by further details that are specifically relevant to these categories of accidents. In occupational accidents the victim’s trade/type of industry is recorded (as far as possible, provided that this type of information is available).
For traffic accidents (vehicle accidents) the victim’s and the counterpart’s mode of transport is recorded as well as other conditions, such as the victim being driver, passenger, etc. the accident situation, and road and lighting conditions.
”Treatment and follow-up” is a variable, which aims to describe how the patient’s visit to the Emergency Department (ED) was concluded. Following the medical examination, the medical conclusion indicates whether or not treatment is indicated or possible. The category: “Sent home without treatment” includes not only cases with no injury diagnosed, but also cases of diagnosed injuries for which no treatment is indicated, e.g. fractured ribs. “Sent home after treatment” includes patients for whom no further treatment is required, and the patient can expect normal healing of the injury. “Referred for further treatment by general practitioner” signifies that medical follow-up of the initial treatment is indicated, e.g. removal of sutures. Similarly, follow-up may be required at hospital level, cf. the category: “Referred for further treatment as an outpatient”. Finally, the injury and its causal circumstances may indicate “Admission to hospital”.
Type of injury and body-part affected is the combined information about the diagnosis. This information is coded by the EU standard, which was developed for use in the registration of home and leisure accidents (cf. the previous EHLASS).
The nomenclature uses plain language (in stead of Latin) to enable the user to understand the data. Injuries are described as bruises, abrasions, bone fractures, burns, scalds, etc. The injured body-parts are named as head, face, arms, legs, etc. In addition, ICD diagnoses are recorded as well (ICD-10). The patient record includes spaces for recording up to 3 different types of injury and the corresponding body-parts. However, it should be noted that the statistics (shown as tables) include only the most serious injury and its corresponding body-part.