Publication catalogue list

Serious injury due to land transport accidents, Australia 2006-07

Injury research and statistics series no. 53

This report presents national statistics on serious non-fatal injury due to land transport accidents in Australia during 2006-07. Males were more than 2 times than females to be hospitalised as a result of a land transport accident, while just over 50% of those hospitalised were aged less than 30 years. When looking at serious injury rates for road vehicle traffic crashes in relation to the number of kilometres travelled, the rate for motorcyclists was more than 37 times that of car occupants. Rates for the Northern Territory remained higher than those for all other jurisdictions over the period from 2000-01 to 2006-07.

Authored by Henley G & Harrison J.

Published 17 December 2009; ISSN 1444-3791; ISBN-13 978 1 74024 985 0; AIHW cat. no. INJCAT 129; 68pp.; INTERNET ONLY

Serious injury due to transport accidents involving a railway train, Australia 2002-03 to 2006-07

Injury research and statistics series no. 54

This report presents national statistics on serious non-fatal injury due to transport accidents involving a railway train in Australia during the period from 2002-03 to 2006-07. Victoria and New South Wales accounted for over 71% of hospitalisations due to transport injury involving a train, while Victoria accounted for just over half of level-crossing hospitalisations during this period. The risk of serious injury, based on kilometres travelled, is more than 10 times greater for passengers travelling by car, compared with passengers travelling by rail.

Authored by Henley G & Harrison J.

Published 17 December 2009; ISSN 1444-3791; ISBN-13 978 1 74024 986 7; AIHW cat. no. INJCAT 130; 36pp.; INTERNET ONLY

Injury deaths, Australia 2004-05

Injury research and statistics series no. 51

Accidental falls, suicide and transport-related injuries are common causes of death in the Australian community. This report finds that overall, rates of injury death in Australia during 2004-05 increased with the remoteness of the injured person's residence, with those who resided in very remote areas having a rate more than double that of the national rate. When considering only deaths resulting from motor vehicle transport accidents, the mortality rate for those who resided in very remote areas was 4 times the national rate. When considering state and territory of residence, those who resided in the Northern Territory, where much of the population lives in remote and very remote areas, had mortality rates almost 3 times the national rate for motor vehicle transport-related deaths, more than double the national rate for suicides, and more than 4 times the national rate for homicides.

Authored by Henley G & Harrison J.

Published 25 September 2009; ISSN 1444-3791; ISBN-13 978 1 74024 925 6; AIHW cat. no. INJCAT 127; 134pp.; $25.00

A review of suicide statistics in Australia

Injury research and statistics series no. 49

A review of suicide statistics in Australia is a detailed report on the statistical processes used to track national suicide rates. Suicide is a matter of considerable public interest and policy significance so reliable statistical information on suicide occurrence is important. This report examines in detail the current methodologies used to track suicide rates, identifying issues with the process of suicide reporting and the extent of, and reason for, any under-enumeration of suicide. Revised estimates are provided and the report provides advice for the future statistical monitoring of suicide and self harm in Australia. This report provides a unique insight into the limitations of current data on suicide rates.

Authored by Elnour A, Harrison J & Pointer S.

Published 28 July 2009; ISSN 1444-3791; ISBN-13 978 1 74024 911 9; AIHW cat. no. INJCAT 121; 114pp.; $27.00

Injury severity scaling: a comparison of methods for measurement of injury severity

Injury technical paper series no. 10

NISU uses a method to distinguish 'high threat to life' injuries from less serious injuries in some publications. The method is called the ICD-based Injury Severity Scaling (ICISS). This technical report documents a revision and update to the method.

Authored by Harrison J & Henley G.

Published 15 June 2009; ISSN 1444-778X; ISBN-13 978 1 74024 887 7; AIHW cat. no. INJCAT 126; INTERNET ONLY

Drowning and other injuries related to aquatic activities at ages 55 years and older in Australia

NISU briefing no. 15

A little over one-quarter of all drowning deaths in Australia and one eighth of hospitalised non-fatal drowning cases occur at ages 55 years and older. This report describes the occurrence of such cases during several years (nine for deaths and five for hospitalised cases). It also describes hospitalised non-drowning injuries in relation to aquatic activities and places.

Authored by Harrison J, Kreisfield R & Henley G.

Published 5 May 2009; ISSN 1833-024X; AIHW cat. no. INJCAT 125; 14pp.; INTERNET ONLY

Spinal cord injury, 1999-2005

NISU briefing no. 14

Spinal cord injury (SCI) is a very debilitating injury. During the six year period from 1 July 1999 to 30 June 2005 there were 19,912 hospital separations in Australia which involved some form of spinal cord injury. Transport-related cases accounted for over 47% of all incident cases, while fall-related injury accounted for a further 33%. Over half (54%) of separations involved readmissions related to complications of spinal cord injuries sustained at an earlier time. The introduction of person-based linkage would allow much more complete and reliable estimation of the incidence of SCI in the community and the burden of SCI on the hospital sector and community.

Authored by Henley G.

Published 28 April 2009; ISSN 1833-024X; AIHW cat. no. INJCAT 124; INTERNET ONLY

Hospitalisations due to falls by older people, Australia 2005-06

Injury research and statistics series no. 50

This report is the second in a series of biennial reports on hospitalisations due to falls by older people in Australia. The report focuses on hospitalised falls occurring in the financial year 2005-06 and examines trends in fall-related hospitalisations over the period 1999-2006. The number of fall events resulting in hospitalisation due to injury for older Australians remains high and the rate of fall-related injury incidents is particularly high for the oldest group within this population. As in the previous report, older females accounted for most of the hospitalised fall injury cases and a third of cases had injuries to the hip and thigh. Half of all fall injury cases for people aged 65 years and older occurred in the home. Falls in residential institutions were also common. Age-standardised rates of hospitalised fall-related injury separations have increased over the seven year study period to June 2006, despite a decrease in the rate for femur fractures due to falls. The estimated total length of stay per fall injury case has also increased over the period 1999-2006, apparently influenced by increases in the number of bed-days used by episodes of fall-related follow-up care.

Authored by AIHW National Injury Surveillance Unit.

Published 4 March 2009; ISSN 1444-3791; ISBN-13 978 1 74024 879 2; AIHW cat. no. INJCAT 122; 56pp.; $20.00

Eye-related injuries in Australia

Reducing preventable vision loss has recently been identified as a priority by Australian governments and non-government organisations. Eye injuries in Australia is the third in a series of national reports providing an overview of eye health in Australia. This report presents eye injuries from the perspectives of hospitalisations, general practice consultations, emergency department attendances, workers' compensation claims, and also as reported in national surveys. This report is an invaluable resource for policy-makers, health professionals, advocacy groups and others interested in knowing more about eye injuries in Australia.

Authored by AIHW.

Published 4 February 2009; ISBN-13 978 1 74024 881 5; AIHW cat. no. INJCAT 123; 64pp.; FREE

Spinal cord injury, Australia, 2006-07

Injury research and statistics series no. 48

Severe spinal cord injury (SCI) is a very debilitating and costly injury. This report presents information from the Australian Spinal Cord Injury Register (ASCIR) on 348 newly incident cases from trauma and disease in 2006-07. During the year, 272 new cases of SCI from traumatic causes were registered in Australia, an age-adjusted incidence rate of 14.9 cases per million population. The most common clinical outcome of SCI from traumatic causes was incomplete tetraplegia (98 cases). Transport related injuries (52%) and falls (29%) accounted for over three-quarters of the 271 cases of traumatic SCI (one case under the age of 15 years was excluded from these analyses). Cases also occurred during sport (n = 21) and working for income, including travel to and from work (n = 37). Falling was the most common type of event leading to traumatic SCI at older ages. The ASCIR is a collaborative activity of the AIHW National Injury Surveillance Unit and all of the specialist spinal units in Australia.

Authored by Cripps R.

Published 22 January 2009; ISSN 1444-3791; ISBN-13 978 1 74024 818 1; AIHW cat. no. INJCAT 119; 44pp.; $30.00