CHILD INJURY IN BRISBANE SOUTH 1985-91 - IMPLICATIONS FOR FUTURE INJURY SURVEILLANCE

Specific childhood injury types are ranked by occurrence rate for mort ality, hospital admission and emergency department attendance. Cases a re drawn from the resident population of Brisbane South, 0-13 years of age, for the period 1 July 1985 to 30 June 1991. A total of 47 244 in juries, 7056 admissions and 99 deaths were analysed. The overall morta lity rate was 12.6/100000 per year (95% confidence interval (Cl), 10.2 -15.3), the overall admission rate was 911/100000 per year (95% Cl, 89 0-932) and the overall hospital attendance rate was 6013/100000 per ye ar (95% Cl, 5958-6067). A fall was the most frequent injury mechanism for admissions and 65% of attendances involved injury in the child's o wn home. The surveillance data establish regional variation for childh ood injury risk within Australia and identify an unexplained downward trend in head injury that requires further investigation. The future d evelopment of injury surveillance in Australia requires simplified cod ing which can be integrated into new computerized patient management i nformation systems.