An epidemiological study of head injuries in a UK population attending an emergency department

¹ University of Exeter, United Kingdom
² Royal Devon & Exeter Hospital, United Kingdom
³ East Devon PCT, United Kingdom
⁴ Mid Devon PCT, United Kingdom

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: w.h.williams{at}ex.ac.uk.

Accepted 23 January 2006

	Abstract

Objectives: We aimed to identify the attendance rate for all head injuries, and for moderate-severe head injury (MSHI), in an Emergency Department (ED), and related risk factors for MSHI, including age, sex, area of residence (AoR) and socio-economic status (SES).

Design: A retrospective descriptive epidemiological study of an ED database of head injury attendances over 6 years. Setting & Participants:An ED that serves both urban and mixed rural/urban areas, with a wide socio-economic range, and a total population of 344,600. Main outcome measures: Rates of attendance for head injury.

Results: Head injury presentations accounted for 3.4% of all attendances per year. An overall rate of 453/100,000 was found for all head injuries, of which 40/100,000 were moderate-severe (10.9%). There was significantly greater risk of presenting with Moderate-Severe Head Injury (MSHI) for urban compared to mixed rural residents. Males were more at risk than females. Children and adolescents were at elevated risk of MSHI. A high attendance rate of MSHI was found in the under 5 age group in urban areas for both sexes. A gradient, with higher attendance in lower SES groups, was observed for children in urban areas, whilst the gradient was reversed in mixed-rural areas.

Conclusions: Head injuries are a relatively common cause of attendance at ED. There is significant variation in attendance with MSHI on the basis of sex, age, socio-economic factors and type of area of residence. The planning and delivery of preventative and management services may be improved by such analyses.

Keywords: emergency department, epidemiology, head and brain injury, public health

This article has been cited by other articles:

				P Edwards, J Green, K Lachowycz, C Grundy, and I Roberts Serious injuries in children: variation by area deprivation and settlement type Arch. Dis. Child., June 1, 2008; 93(6): 485 - 489. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				I. K. Moppett Traumatic brain injury: assessment, resuscitation and early management Br. J. Anaesth., July 1, 2007; 99(1): 18 - 31. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

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