Functional outcome after road-crash injury: description of the ESPARR victims cohort and 6-month follow-up results.
OBJECTIVE
It is essential to know about the long-term consequences of road crashes involving corporal injury in order to adopt relevant public health measures.


METHODS
The ESPARR cohort comprises 1168 road-crash victims, aged 16 or over, managed in hospitals in the Rhône administrative départment (France). It is based on the Registry of Road Traffic Casualties, which has been collecting exhaustive data since 1995. Two groups are monitored: mild to moderate (M-AIS 1 or 2) and severe (M-AIS > or =3). Patients were interviewed at the point of primary care, between 1 October 2004 and 31 July 2006. 6 months later, their state of health and presence of pain were compared. Multivariate analysis (logistic regression) was performed to identify factors related to residual pain.


RESULTS
Adults of the cohort were compared to the road crash population as a whole recorded over the same period in the same area. At 6 months post-accident, only 31.9% of victims deemed their health status to have entirely returned to normal; 63.8% of mild to moderate and 89.2% of severe cases reported residual pain, but neither pain frequency nor intensity correlated with M-AIS. Residual pain was related to lower limb injuries (OR=1.6; 95% CI=1.1-2.4). After adjustment, pain was essentially related to age, seriousness of the lesions and a stay in a rehabilitation unit.


CONCLUSIONS
The ESPARR cohort provides a unique opportunity in France to describe the trajectory of a road crash victim, in terms both of care and rehabilitation and of resumption of work and personal activity.
Epidemiological Research and Surveillance Unit in Transport, Occupation and Environment UMRT9405-INRETS, Université Lyon I, InVS, INRETS, Université de Lyon, F-69500 Bron, France. martine.hours@inrets.fr
Martine
M
Hours
Marlène
M
Bernard
Pierrette
P
Charnay
Laetitia
L
Chossegros
Etienne
E
Javouhey
Emmanuel
E
Fort
Dominique
D
Boisson
Pierre-Olivier
PO
Sancho
Bernard
B
Laumon
D000063:Accidents, Traffic; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D005602:France / Q000453:epidemiology; D006760:Hospitalization / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016017:Odds Ratio; D010146:Pain / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology*; D020127:Recovery of Function; D015599:Trauma Severity Indices; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000150:complications* / Q000534:rehabilitation; D055815:Young Adult