title: Domestic unintentional injuries presenting to the accident and emergency departments in the Wellington region.
abstract: A prospective descriptive study of domestic unintentional injuries attending accident and emergency (A & E) departments in the Wellington region is presented. In a three month period there were 2207 such attendances. There was no difference in the proportion of males and females seen. A disproportionate number of the very young (under five years of age) and the elderly (65 years and over) attended A & E departments for these injuries. Approximately one-quarter of the attendances were for cuts or lacerations (26.6%) and one-fifth were for fractures (18.0%). Crude estimates of distance indicate that, on average, people travel greater distances for fractures than for other injuries. General practitioners referred one-tenth (10.6%) of all the attendances. Outcomes from the A & E attendances were: 70.4% were discharged, 7.7% were admitted to hospital, 14.6% were referred to outpatient clinics, and 7.2% were referred back to their general practitioners. There were no deaths in A & E departments.
authors.affiliation: Department of Community Health, Wellington School of Medicine.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Bandaranayake
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Salmond
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kljakovic
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Borman
mesh_terms: D000061:Accidents, Home; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012737:Sex Factors; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000209:etiology / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy