title: Incidence of hospital referred head injuries in Norway: a population based survey from the Stavanger region.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  In three previous Norwegian studies conducted between 1974 and 1993, the annual incidence rates of hospital admitted head injuries were 236, 200 and 169 per 100,000 population. The aim of this study was to describe the incidence of head injury in the Stavanger region and to compare it with previous Norwegian studies.
  
  
  METHODS
  All head injured patients referred to Stavanger University Hospital during a one-year period (2003) were registered in a partly prospective and partly retrospective study. The catchment area for the hospital is strictly defined to a local population of 283,317 inhabitants (2003).
  
  
  RESULTS
  The annual incidence rate was 207/100,000 population for hospital referred head injury and 157/100,000 population for hospital admitted head injury. High age- and sex specific incidence rates were observed among the oldest, and the highest rate (882/100,000) among men above 90 years. More than 50% of the injuries were caused by falls.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Comparison with previous Norwegian studies indicates decreasing annual incidence rates for hospital admitted head injury during the last 30 years.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Ullevål University Hospital, Oslo, Norway. ben.heskestad@ulleval.no
authors.forename: Ben
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Heskestad
authors.forename: Roald
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Baardsen
authors.forename: Eirik
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Helseth
authors.forename: Bertil
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Romner
authors.forename: Knut
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Waterloo
authors.forename: Tor
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ingebrigtsen
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002391:Catchment Area, Health; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D006259:Craniocerebral Trauma / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009664:Norway / Q000453:epidemiology; D011159:Population Surveillance; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012017:Referral and Consultation / Q000639:trends*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D055815:Young Adult