title: Head injuries during one year in a central hospital in Norway: a prospective study. Epidemiologic features.
abstract: Annual age-adjusted incidence rate of head injuries in Akershus County in 1974 was estimated to be 236/100,000, 307/100,000 for males and 164/100,000 for females. The highest incidence rate occurred in males in the age group 10-19 years (489/100,000) and the lowest among females in the age group 30-39 (68/100,000). In all age groups, the incidence rate was higher in males than females. This prospective study included 488 patients, of whom 88.9% had minor head injuries and 11.1% severe head injuries. 16 patients (3.3%) died due to their head trauma. Skull fracture was detected in 10.4% of the patients who survived the first 24 h, and 2.5% had operations. The mean hospital stay was 8.8 days, 10.2 days for the patients injured in traffic accidents and 7.0 days for the others. Besides having a higher incidence rate of head injuries, males suffered severe head injuries more often and their death rate was higher than head-injured females.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Akershus Central Hospital, University of Oslo, Norway.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nestvold
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Lundar
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Blikra
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lønnum
mesh_terms: D000063:Accidents, Traffic; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D006259:Craniocerebral Trauma / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology / Q000401:mortality; D005260:Female; D006760:Hospitalization; D006766:Hospitals, County; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009664:Norway; D011446:Prospective Studies