COSTS OF HEALTH-CARE FOR UNINTENTIONAL INJURY IN STAVANGER, NORWAY

The objective was to analyse the utilization of health services and th e costs of treatment of unintentional injuries by type of injuries acc ording to the common Nordic classification of injuries. From prospecti ve registration of all injuries seen at the only hospital and emergenc y clinic in Stavanger, Norway, we selected at random a stratified samp le of 2,819 cases from 7,019 unintentional injuries that occurred in 1 992 among the residents of Stavanger. From medical records, we obtaine d information about the utilization of health services and estimated m edical costs during the first year after injury. Of the patients 70% r equired only a single out-patient visit, while an additional 20% compl eted their treatment within the first 30 days after injury. Fifty per cent of the total costs were due to injuries among persons aged 65 yea rs and older. Home and leisure-time injuries accounted for 75% of the total costs. The cost per injury was NOK 3,807 (US$ 614), NOK 24,831 p er hospitalized patient and NOK 1,011 per non-hospitalized patient. Th e per-injury cost among people aged 65 years and older was NOK 15,428, compared with NOK 2,158 among people aged 0-64 years, the difference primarily due to the increase in the average severity of injury. The p er-injury costs were ranked (in descending order): nursing home, undef ined, street, home, other home and leisure, traffic, occupational, fre e nature, sports, school and day care centre/playground injuries. If h ealth care costs are to be reduced by injury prevention, priority shou ld be given to injuries occurring at home and during leisure time and to injuries among elderly people.