Physical and psychological effects of injury - Data from the 1958 British birth cohort study

Background: There is only scant evidence for the long-term health effects o f road traffic injuries. We therefore assessed the extent to which motor ve hicle driver injuries influence limiting long-standing illness and psycholo gical distress using data from a nationwide study(the 1958 British birth co hort) in early adulthood. Methods: information was obtained on driver injur ies occurring between ages 23 and 33 years and limiting illnesses and psych ological distress at age 33 years. The risks of injury-related adverse cons equences were derived using logistic regression and expressed as odds ratio s (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals, Results: A single injury was associat ed with limiting illness (OR=2.01 and 95% CI: 1.38-2.94), The association b etween a single injury and psychological distress was strong for a recent i njury occurring between ages 30 and 33 years (OR=1.86 and 95% CI: 1.24-2.81 ), but not for injuries occurring earlier on. The population attributable f raction for limiting illness with one injury was 3.8% (range 1.7-5.3%) and with two or more injuries was 1.0% (range 0.5-1.3%). After controlling for potential confounding factors the corresponding figures were 4.2% (range 2. 2-5.6%) and 1.1% (range 0.5-1.3%) respectively. Conclusions: Driver injurie s are associated with a substantial increase in disability and, also in the short term, with increases in psychological distress. These results highli ght the need for identifying effective strategies for the prevention of roa d traffic injuries as well as more effective approaches for rehabilitation of the injured.