High levels of preventable chronic disease, injury and mental health problems- INJURY
This area affects all age groups and places an economic, social and physical burden on the community.
The nature of the problem
· An injury is the adverse (disadvantageous) effects on the body resulting from an event
· Through preventative measures the mortality and morbidity rates of injuries can decline
· Injuries include accidents such as: falls, transport accidents, and drowning; as well as intentional events such as: suicide, homicide or assault (known as external causes of injury).
Extent of the problem (trends)
· Broadly, injuries are responsible for 7.6% of all deaths.
· The deaths for elderly males accounts for a 1/3 of the population and in contrast, the elderly females resulted in 2/3
· Injuries for those under 35 years resulted in the highest cause of death
· Most deaths related to injuries result from falls, self-harm and road accidents.
· The injury death rate remained constant for the last 10 years
· The rates have been declining for most external causes of injury death
· 5% of all hospitalisations are for injuries, with the elderly being the group presented most often.
· Males are more likely to be hospitalised for injury than females
· Injury related hospitalisations have risen by 1% each year for the past 10 years.
Risk factors and protective factors
Risk and protective factors depend on the type of injury and its cause.
· Falls:
· The elderly and working in a high-risk job, such a building, or roofing, results in an increase of falls (injury).
· Some falls can be prevented by using harnesses and other WH&S (work health and safety regulations)
· Transport:
· Risk factors from transport injuries include: speeding, drink driving, and fatigue.
· Protective factors include: wearing a seatbelt, abiding the speed limit, wearing a helmet, and ensuring long road trips are broken up into manageable portions so fatigue does not become a danger...
