title: The epidemiology of hospital-referred head injury in northern Norway.
abstract: This retrospective population-based survey describes the epidemiology of head injury in a defined population in Northern Norway. It includes all 247 patients with head injury referred to the University Hospital of Tromsø, Norway, during 1993. Head injury was defined as physical damage to the brain or skull caused by external force. The annual incidence rate of hospital-referred head injury was 229/100,000 population with a male preponderance of 1.7:1.0. The cause was a fall in 62%, road traffic accident in 21% and assault in 7% of the cases. The observed incidence rate is low despite the use of wide inclusion criteria, probably due to a decrease in road traffic accidents. A further decrease in the number of head injuries in our region may be achieved by preventing falls.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, University Hospitals of Tromsø, Norway.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ingebrigtsen
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Mortensen
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Romner
mesh_terms: D000058:Accidental Falls / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D000063:Accidents, Traffic / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000453:epidemiology; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D006259:Craniocerebral Trauma / Q000145:classification / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000517:prevention & control; D005260:Female; D006760:Hospitalization / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009104:Multiple Trauma / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology; D009664:Norway / Q000453:epidemiology; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D017678:Sex Distribution; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D013997:Time Factors; D015599:Trauma Severity Indices