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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Limor Aharonson-Daniel, PhD, Israel National Center for Trauma and Emergency Medicine Research, Gertner Institute for Epidemiology and Health Policy Research, Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer, 52621, Israel, 972-3-5354252, limorad@gertner.health.gov.il

Background: Standard methods that estimate the increased risk to survival from multiple injury have been in use for years, yet no uniform methods for presenting the details of multiple injuries have been accepted. Common approaches for reporting are the use of “first-listed”/primary diagnosis, or grouping all multiple diagnoses into a single class of ‘multiple injury'. Both methods result in loss of valuable information on injured body region, distorting statistics and subsequently misrepresenting the true burden of injury in the population. Aim: To demonstrate the application and benefits of multiple injury profiles (MIP). Methods: Injury Profiles are defined and described. The frequency distribution of these profiles in a trauma registry population is studied in a way similar to any other categorical population characteristic. Frequency distributions of organs injured are compared between reports using the MIP approach and similar tables based on conventional approaches. Results: Multiple injury profiles can describe complex medical conditions and enable the identification of all patients with a specific injury, even where secondary. Results show that inpatient death rates of multiple injuries are significantly higher and that summary of patient data using one dimensional diagnoses can associate mortality rates to the wrong body region leading to an inaccurate picture. Conclusions: Multiple injury profiles (MIP) improve the ability to present injury in the individual and in a population. The use of MIP facilitates the identification of all patients with a specific injury, even if secondary, providing a better description of the full pattern of injury and the associated outcomes.

Learning Objectives:

• By the end of this session the audience should be able to describe the concept of multiple injury profiles, know how to build them and understand their potential contribution to medical statistics.

Keywords: Injury, Statistics

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Not Answered

Handout (.pdf format, 59.5 kb)