Injury surveillance in a pediatric emergency department

In this study we have tried to determine physician success in the collectio n of injury data during the emergency department visit, Prospective data we re collected from all children between the ages of 0 to 18 treated for an i njury. Data were collected at the time of the visit and by chart review the next day, At an urban, university-affiliated, children's hospital, data we re collected on 2,156 injured children, Fifty one percent of the data forms were completed by the treating physician, Physician completion rate was lo wer on the weekends (46%) than on weekdays (52%, P = .02). The most common mechanisms of injury were falls (34%), motor vehicle crashes or pedestrians struck (13%), and nonintentional struck by blunt object (12%), The most co mmon mechanism of injury in all age groups was falls. Our results demonstra te that emergency physicians are not successful data collectors. However, w hen physician data collection is combined with next-day review of patient r ecords, virtually 100% of patients are captured, Active emergency departmen t data collection is important because in contrast to studies which use hos pital discharge and mortality data, we found that overall falls account for more injuries presenting to the ED than transportation related causes. An active surveillance system in emergency departments that does not require e xtra work on the part of the treating physician would be ideal and may give a more comprehensive description of the scope of the injury problem, (C) 1 999 by W.B. Saunders Company.