Objectives
This study sought to establish linkage logic, explore the benefits of linking multiple data sources to identify land transport-related injury events, and examine the incidence and characteristics of transport-related injuries in Queensland, Australia.
Methods
Retrospective population-based data were sourced from ambulance, emergency department, hospital, and compensation data systems for the period January 2012 to December 2017. Descriptive statistics, including frequencies, percentages, and ratios, were used to describe the incidence of index transport-related injury events by demographic and mode of transport characteristics, while a chi-square test was used to test for variations in the proportion of events among groups over time.
Results
There were 164,248 index transport-related injury events recorded during the study period, with an annual incidence rate of 575 per 100,000 population. 73.8% of events were identified from only health system data, 13.5% from only compensation system data and the remaining 12.7% from a combination of both health and compensation system data. Transport-related injury events were highest among males (680 per 100,000 population), Indigenous Australians (370 per 100,000 population) and individuals aged 15-24 years old (1,020 per 100,000 population). Geographically, the highest incidence was recorded in remote areas (760 per 100,000 population). Most of the transport-related injuries involved cars (46.6%), with drivers (40.1%) being the most frequently injured.
Conclusion
Linked health and compensation system data can better reveal the true burden of transport-related injury within a population. However, the management and interpretation of linked data sources requires subject matter expertise and development of linkage logic to ensure the accuracy of burden estimation.