Injury outcome indicators: the development of a validation tool.

Background: Researchers have previously expressed concern about some national indicators of injury incidence and have argued that indicators should be validated before their introduction.

Aims: To develop a tool to assess the validity of indicators of injury incidence and to carry out initial testing of the tool to explore consistency on application.

Methods: Previously proposed criteria were shared for comment with members of the International Collaborative Effort on Injury Statistics (ICE) Injury Indicators Group over a period of six months.

First fracture is associated with increased risk of new fractures during growth.

Prior fracture was associated with increased risk of new fracture in 601 members of a cohort studied between birth and l8 years. Hazard ratios for new fracture in data adjusted for age and sex were l.90 (95%CI l.

Diagnosis based injury severity scaling: investigation of a method using Australian and New Zealand hospitalisations.

Objective: To assess the performance of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD) based injury severity score, ICISS, when applied to two versions of the 10th edition of ICD, ICD-10 and ICD-10-AM.

Design: ICISS was assessed on its ability to predict threat to life using logistic regression modelling. Models used ICISS and age as predictors and survival as the outcome.

Prevention of influenza in the general population.

Background: Although all jurisdictions in Canada offer annual influenza immunization to people at high risk of complications, only Ontario has provided universal annual immunization of healthy adults and children. Use of chemotherapy (amantidine, neuraminidase inhibitors) to prevent influenza varies among provinces. We sought to systematically review the evidence for the prevention of influenza infection in the general population.

Web-based screening and brief intervention for hazardous drinking: a double-blind randomized controlled trial.

Background: Strong evidence exists for the efficacy of screening and brief intervention for reducing hazardous drinking. However, problems have been highlighted with respect to its implementation in health-care systems, not least of which is a reluctance of some doctors to discuss alcohol proactively with their patients.

Aims: To determine the efficacy of a novel web-based screening and brief intervention (e-SBI) to reduce hazardous drinking.

Dog bite injuries.

Aims: To describe the extent of the dog bite problem in New Zealand for the period 1989 to 2001.

Methods: Fatalities and cases requiring public-hospital treatment identified from the New Zealand Health Information Service databases.

Results: There was one fatality and 3119 hospitalisations, an average of 240 per year.

The Pediatric Investigators Collaborative Network on Infections in Canada study of predictors of hospitalization for respiratory syncytial virus infection for infants born at 33 through 35 completed weeks of gestation.

Background: Infants born at 33 through 35 completed weeks of gestation (33-35GA) are at risk for severe respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection, and palivizumab prophylaxis lowers hospitalizations for RSV infection by as much as 80%. The 33-35GA cohort comprises 3-5% of annual births; thus expert panels recommend limiting prophylaxis to situations in which frequency or health care impact of RSV infection is high. This study sought to identify independent risk factors for hospitalization for RSV infection.

Identifying predictors of persistent non-alcohol or drug-related risky driving behaviours among a cohort of young adults.

This study sought to identify adolescent risk factors that predicted persistent risky driving behaviours among young adults. It was part of a longitudinal study of a birth cohort (474 males and 459 females). The potential predictors were self-reported data obtained at ages 15, 18, 21 years (academic qualifications, personality, mental health, anti-social behaviour and driving behaviour).

Azithromycin is as effective as and better tolerated than erythromycin estolate for the treatment of pertussis.

Objective: Although universal immunization against Bordetella pertussis (whooping cough) infection has resulted in dramatic reductions in the incidence of pertussis, outbreaks continue to occur in countries with excellent vaccine coverage. Treatment of infection may ameliorate symptom severity during the catarrhal phase of pertussis but has no effect on established paroxysms, emesis, or apnea if given during the paroxysmal or convalescent phases. Erythromycin, recommended for treatment of pertussis to prevent transmission of infection, is poorly tolerated because of gastrointestinal side effects.

The New Zealand child work-related fatal injury study: 1985-1998.

Aims: To estimate the numbers and rates of work-related fatal injury for children under the age of 15 years.

Methods: Potential cases of work-related injury deaths of persons aged <15 years of age were identified from the national electronic mortality data-files for the period 1985-1998 inclusive. The circumstances of the death in each fatality incident were reviewed directly from coronial files to determine work-relatedness.

Assessment of nonresponse bias in an internet survey of alcohol use.

Background: Decreasing survey response rates are a growing concern in epidemiological research, principally because prevalence estimates may be biased by selective nonresponse. Internet-based methods have the potential to yield higher-quality data with lower nonresponse rates and at a lower cost than traditional methods. Little research exists on nonresponse bias in Internet surveys of alcohol use.

An Advisory Committee Statement (ACS). National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI). Update: statement on influenza vaccination for the 2003-04 season.

The National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI) provides Health Canada with ongoing and timely medical, scientific, and public health advice relating to immunization. Health Canada acknowledges that the advice and recommendations set out in this statement are based upon the best current available scientific knowledge and is disseminating this document for information purposes. People administering or using the vaccine should also be aware of the contents of the relevant product monograph(s).

Challenges for surveillance for injury prevention.

Injury surveillance has, and will continue to have, a critical role to play in reducing injury. If injury surveillance is going to realise its full potential in reducing injury, however, there are a number of challenges we need to address. These include: (1) agreeing on what is an injury, (2) focusing on important injuries, (3) improving surveillance of important injury events, and (4) improving surveillance of risk and protective factors.

Perceived social norms and their relation to university student drinking.

Objective: The aims of this study were to compare university students' perceptions of drinking norms with actual student drinking norms, to examine the relationship between norm misperception and individual drinking status and to investigate the relative importance of three reference groups as potential determinants of individual drinking levels: young people in New Zealand of the same age and gender, local university students of the same age and gender and the closest friends of individual respondents.

Method: In 2002 a randomly selected representative sample of 1,564 New Zealand university students aged 16-29 years completed an Internet-based survey of their alcohol use (response rate: 82%). Respondents were asked to estimate the incidence of heavy episodic drinking and vomiting in the three reference groups and to rate their own drinking in comparison.

Motorcycle rider conspicuity and crash related injury: case-control study.

Objective: To investigate whether the risk of motorcycle crash related injuries is associated with the conspicuity of the driver or vehicle.

Design: Population based case-control study.

Setting: Auckland region of New Zealand from February 1993 to February 1996.

Missing cyclists.

Objectives: (1) For crashes on a public road, to compare serious cyclist crashes involving a motor vehicle with cyclist crashes not involving a motor vehicle, in terms of threat to life and length of stay in hospital. (2) To determine the proportion of all serious crashes involving cyclists on public roads which are recorded by the police. (3) To determine the degree to which under-reporting of serious crashes involving cyclists and motor vehicles on public roads is associated with various demographic, environmental, and injury factors.

Increasing incidence of hospitalization for bronchiolitis among Canadian children, 1980-2000.

We evaluated temporal trends in hospitalization for bronchiolitis found among Canadian children for 1980-2000. The rate of hospital admission increased in all provinces over the 2 decades for all age groups but was highest in those aged <6 months. The mean length of stay decreased from 5.

Measuring road traffic safety performance: monitoring trends in nonfatal injury.

Traditional indicators used to monitor trends in nonfatal injury are influenced by a range of factors other than the incidence of injury. Indicators based on threat-to-life scales offer a means of addressing this problem. The aim of the research described in this article was to compare trends in the official indicators with trends in selected threat-to-life indicators.

Upward trends in the incidence of neck of femur fractures in the elderly.

Aim: A recent paper by Fielden and colleagues suggested the incidence of neck of femur fractures among those aged 65 years and older underwent a much smaller increase during the 1990s than had previously been predicted. Given the importance of neck of femur fractures in New Zealand we sought to re-examine the conclusions of Fielden and colleagues, paying close attention to case selection.

Methods: Cases were selected from patients discharged by New Zealand public hospitals, with close attention paid to the inclusion criteria.