Citation

Stevenson MR, McClure RJ. Inj. Prev. 2005; 11(1): 2-4.

Affiliation

Injury Prevention and Trauma Care Division, The George Institute for International Health and School of Public Health, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2005, BMJ Publishing Group)

DOI

10.1136/ip.2003.003384

PMID

15691980

PMCID

PMC1730178

Abstract

This paper provides an overview of the ecological study design and its application to injury prevention. The advantages and disadvantages of ecological designs are described and the principle characteristics of the ecological design are highlighted. The paper concludes by highlighting the pivotal role that ecological studies can have in our understanding of the complex interaction between the environment and injury, and the application of this design in elucidating key population based strategies for injury prevention.