title: Action indicators for injury prevention.
abstract: There is considerable confusion about the nature of indicators, their use in the injury field and surprisingly little discussion about these important tools. To date discussions of injury indicators have focused on the content and presentation of health outcome measures and on the dearth of data on exposure measures. Whereas these are valuable measures and assessing the optimal use of available routinely collected data in forming indicators is important, they do not provide sufficient information to support comprehensive prevention efforts, nor do they harness the full potential of indicators as tools to support prevention efforts. This paper provides an overview of the characteristics and uses of indicators for the field of injury prevention in order to make the case for action indicators and provide a framework for their appropriate use.
authors.affiliation: European Child Safety Alliance, EuroSafe, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. m.mackay@childsafetyeurope.org
authors.forename: J Morag
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: MacKay
authors.forename: Alison K
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Macpherson
authors.forename: Ian
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Pike
authors.forename: Joanne
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Vincenten
authors.forename: Rod
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: McClure
mesh_terms: D003695:Delivery of Health Care / Q000592:standards*; D005260:Female; D006305:Health Status Indicators; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011314:Preventive Health Services / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000592:standards*; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000517:prevention & control*