Estimating population-based injury prevention practices.

This study piloted a survey suitable to generate statewide prevalence estimates for injury prevention practices and/or behaviours. A number of prevalence estimates of injury prevention practices and/or behaviours were generated in the pilot. For example, the prevalence of a household smoke alarm was high (732/1000 households) and yet only 44% of households had tested the functionality of the alarm in the 12 months preceding the survey. Findings of this kind point to an increasing need for primary care practitioners to play a leading role in targeting preventive strategies for injury. In addition, the survey methods and approach highlight the value of such information to health departments and non-government agencies in terms of targeting priority injury risk behaviours and the evaluation of injury-related intervention programmes. The survey has been designed so the methods can be applied nationally and internationally.

Estimating crashes involving heavy vehicles in Western Australia, 1999-2000: a capture-recapture method.

A two-sample exploratory study of police and hospital records was undertaken to estimate the number of fatalities and serious injuries for heavy vehicle drivers involved in a crash in Western Australia. The capture-recapture method was used to assess differences and similarities in characteristics of heavy vehicle drivers from both sources. Each heavy vehicle driver involved in a crash from the police report was matched against the heavy vehicle driver's hospitalisation record from the Hospital Morbidity Data System, with surname, initials, date of birth, gender, date of crash, road user type and vehicle type as matching fields. The estimated number of fatalities and serious injuries to heavy vehicle drivers from 1st July 1999 to 31st December 2000 was 5 and 59, respectively, which was 25 and 31% higher based on the capture-recapture methodology than the aggregated (non-overlapping) total officially reported to the police and hospitals. No significant age difference (p>0.05) was found for drivers involved in a heavy vehicle crash between the two sources (37 years versus 40 year of age). However, female heavy vehicle drivers were over-represented in the hospital records (11%) compared to the police records (1%). The capture-recapture approach is useful for evaluating the completeness of data sources and identifying biases within datasets. The underestimation of heavy vehicle drivers seriously injured and killed has important implications for heavy vehicle safety management and resource allocation in Western Australia.

Health conditions of heavy vehicle drivers involved in a crash in Western Australia: a retrospective study using linked data.

ISSUE ADDRESSED: This retrospective study investigated the health conditions of a cohort of heavy vehicle drivers involved in a crash in Western Australia. METHODS: Hospital separation records of heavy vehicle drivers admitted to hospital as a result of a road crash between 1 January 1988 and 31 December 2000 in Western Australia were analysed. Heavy vehicle drivers involved in a crash were first identified using the Western Australian Road Injury Database before linking to their hospital records. All hospital admissions for each driver admitted to hospital for a crash at least once during the study period were subsequently retrieved from the Health Services Linked Database. RESULTS: There were 146 heavy vehicle drivers in the cohort. A total of 964 distinct in-patient episodes (the collection of all hospital admissions for a single event) were recorded for these drivers, with a minimum of one and a maximum of 84 hospital in-patient episodes per driver. The mean number of in-patient episodes for each driver was seven (SD=8.44), including an in-patient episode for a heavy vehicle crash. CONCLUSION: The evidence presented for the cohort of heavy vehicle drivers hospitalised as a result of road crash confirms that these drivers are characterised with health conditions such as musculoskeletal problems and digestive disorders.

The accuracy of coin-operated breath analysers installed in licensed premises in the Perth metropolitan area.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the accuracy of coin-operated breath analysers installed in licensed premises in the Perth metropolitan area. METHOD: Two hundred licensed premises were contacted, which resulted in the location of 36 wall-mounted, coin-operated breath analysers. One instrument was removed prior to testing. These premises were then visited and the accuracy of the instruments was tested in situ using National Association of Testing Authorities Australia (NATA) certified 0.080% and 0.100% ethanol in nitrogen gas. RESULTS: The instruments were installed in the licensed premises as follows: 15 in the lounge bar, 10 in the main entrance, six in the public bar, two in the passageway to the toilets, and one in the male toilets. One licensed premise provided a handheld breath instrument. All instruments were accompanied by warning and operating instructions, but only five had any educational material. Only seven of the licensed premises had staff who had received any training in the operation of the wall-mounted instruments. Half of the licensees were unaware of the servicing requirements of the instruments. The testing found that only nine (25%) of the instruments provided acceptable results. CONCLUSION: The low level of accuracy of coin-operated breath analysers in the Perth metropolitan area is alarming and users should be informed of the potential inaccuracies. This paper, however, does not rule out that some wall-mounted breath analysing instruments may provide accurate results when properly maintained.

Trends in road injury hospitalisation rates for Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people in Western Australia, 1971-97.

OBJECTIVE: To examine trends in road injury hospitalisation rates for Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people in Western Australia. METHODS: Data from the Western Australian Hospital Morbidity Data System for the years between 1971 and 1997 were analysed. Poisson regression models were fitted to determine whether the trends were significant. RESULTS: The rate of hospitalisation due to road injury for Aboriginal people (719.1 per 100 000 population per year) over the time period examined was almost twice as high as that for non-Aboriginal people (363.4 per 100 000 population per year). Overall, the results showed that while hospitalisations from road injury involving non-Aboriginal people have been decreasing by 6.7% per three year period since 1971, the rates of hospitalisation for Aboriginal people have been increasing by 2.6% per three year period. Both of these trends were statistically significant. The alarming increasing trend observed for Aboriginal people was more pronounced in males, those aged 0-14 years and over 45 years, and for those living in rural areas. CONCLUSIONS: As the rates of road injury for Aboriginal people are higher than for non-Aboriginal people, and are also following an increasing trend, road safety issues involving Aboriginal people need to be addressed urgently by health and transport authorities.

Road safety issues in remote Aboriginal communities in Western Australia.

A series of interviews with the chairpersons of Aboriginal communities in a remote area of Western Australia were conducted to examine their attitudes to road safety problems. It was found that some road safety issues that were expected to be considered problems were not necessarily seen to be so by those interviewed. This finding suggests that the first stage of a road safety intervention program for Aboriginal people may need to include an awareness raising component. It also suggests that there is a need for more detailed research defining particular problems more accurately before effective and culturally appropriate countermeasures are developed.

Comparison of accident and emergency with police road injury data.

This paper examines the consistency of police and hospital reporting of outcomes of road traffic crashes using a database of linked police crash reports and accident and emergency department data. The database used consisted of linked records of road traffic crashes in Western Australia for the period of October 1, 1987 to December 31, 1988 from police reported casualty crashes, the discharge records from all hospital admissions in Western Australia, the Registrar-General's death records, and records for each ambulance trip as a result of a road crash in the metropolitan area of Perth. The results suggest that police records of hospital admissions from the group of accident and emergency attendances underestimated the total by approximately 15%.

Road crashes involving aboriginal people in Western Australia.

Previous researchers who have looked at the problem of Australian Aboriginals involved in road crashes have examined data about Aboriginals killed in crashes as this has been the only kind available. The aim of the present study was to describe the characteristics of Aboriginals and non-Aboriginals hospitalised in Western Australia after a crash. The results suggested that Aboriginals were over-represented in casualty road crashes on a per-capita basis but that they did not differ in the patterns of injuries received or in injury severity when compared to non-Aboriginal casualties. Additional data are needed to further examine these issues.

Travel exposure and choice of comparison crashes for examining motorcycle conspicuity by analysis of crash data.

Much research has been conducted examining the problem of motorcycle road crashes. Most of this research has concluded that motorcyclists have a conspicuity problem, particularly during the day. This type of research has often involved comparing multi-vehicle motorcycle crashes with single vehicle motorcycle crashes occurring during the day and night. The aim of this paper is to point out that comparison of single and multiple vehicle motorcycle crashes juxtaposes subsets of crashes with clearly different causes (car drivers' possible failure to detect a motorcyclist against motorcyclists' loss of vehicle control). Comparing groups of crashes for which conspicuity can be posited as a common cause (car drivers' possible failure to detect a motorcyclist or car) may be a more enlightening comparison. The issue of exposure is also examined in this paper.

Historical trends in road accident types, deaths and casualties in Western Australia.

Road accident casualties are major consumers of health service resources in Australia, using inpatient care, accident and emergency treatment and other facilities. We analysed hospitalisations resulting from road accidents in Western Australia from 1968 to 1987 to examine trends in accident types, deaths and casualties. Data from the Western Australian Health Department's Hospital Morbidity System were used. Although hospitalisations from road accidents generally decreased, they were still higher than the Australian average in 1985. The rate of decline in hospitalisations was similar to that for fatalities and was not generally related to age or sex. There was some evidence of a more rapid decline in the rate of severe injuries than in minor ones. Further steps need to be taken to reduce the number of casualties from road accidents, as road accidents represent a major public health problem in Western Australia.