[Is the Norwegian injury register adequately representative?].
BACKGROUND
A new national injury register in Norway provides injury statistics based on injuries treated at hospitals and emergency care clinics in Oslo, Bergen and Trondheim. The aim of the study is to investigate whether the national register is adequately representative, by estimating the proportion of injuries in the municipality of Trondheim that are treated by regular general practitioners (GPs) in Trondheim.


METHODS
Eight primary care medical practices were invited to record information about injuries treated by GPs in their practice; seven practices completed the recording. An electronic injury recording system, WinMed, was used.


RESULTS
The study population comprises 22.5 % of patients registered in GP lists in Trondheim. The GPs at the seven practices treated 142 injuries in April 2008. Provided that these practices are representative, the GPs in Trondheim treated 631 injuries in April 2008, i.e. 29.4 % of all injuries treated by physicians in Trondheim that month. The annual incidence of injuries in Trondheim, based on data from the injury register for the period 1986-2008, showed a decreasing trend after 1992. By including estimated data for injuries treated by GPs in general practice the trend increased in the same period.


CONCLUSIONS
Data from the National injury register at hospitals and emergency care clinics in Trondheim do not provide reliable information about the incidence of injuries.
Eilertsen
Guttorm
G
Miljøenheten, Trondheim kommune, 7004 Trondheim, Norway. guttorm.eilertsen@trondheim.kommune.no
Jenssen
Jon A
JA
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital; D005194:Family Practice; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007223:Infant; D015601:Injury Severity Score; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009664:Norway / Q000453:epidemiology; D011785:Quality Assurance, Health Care; D012042:Registries / Q000592:standards; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000628:therapy; D055815:Young Adult