Citation

Ang JY, Gabbe B, Cameron P, Beck B. Emerg. Med. Australas. 2019; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Affiliation

Faculty of Medicine, Laval University, Quebec City, Quebec, Canada.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2019, Australasian College for Emergency Medicine and Australasian Society for Emergency Medicine, Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/1742-6723.13361

PMID

31361079

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: Non-fatal injuries sustained from animal-vehicle collisions are a globally under-recognised road safety issue, with limited data on these crash types. The present study aimed to quantify the number and causes of major trauma events resulting from animal-vehicle collisions.

METHODS: The study was a retrospective analysis of major trauma cases occurring in Victoria, Australia, between 2007 and 2016, using data from the population-based Victorian State Trauma Registry. To identify animal-vehicle collisions, Victorian State Trauma Registry injury codes were combined with text-mining of the text description of the injury event.

RESULTS: Over the 10 year period, there were 152 major trauma patients who were admitted to Victorian trauma-receiving hospitals due to vehicle collisions with animals. The crude population-based incidence rate for animal-vehicle collisions increased by 6.7% per year (incidence rate ratio 1.07; 95% confidence interval 1.01-1.13; P = 0.02).

CONCLUSION: Development of systematic recording methods of animal-vehicle collisions will improve reporting of these crash types to assist future studies in implementing effective countermeasures.

© 2019 Australasian College for Emergency Medicine.

Language: en

Keywords

injury; motor vehicle; prevention; traffic