title: Epidemiology of injuries in Belgium: contribution of hospital data for surveillance.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Investigating injuries in terms of occurrences and patient and hospital stay characteristics.
  
  
  METHODS
  17370 stays, with at least one E code, were investigated based on data from 13 Belgian hospitals. Pearson's chi-square and Kruskal-Wallis tests were used to assess the variations between distributions of the investigated factors according to the injury's types.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Major injuries were accidental falls, transport injuries, and self-inflicted injuries. There were more men in the transport injuries group and the accidental falls group was older. For the transport injuries, there were more arrivals with the support of a mobile intensive care unit and/or a paramedic intervention team and a general practitioner was more implicated for the accidental falls. In three-quarters of cases, it was a primary diagnostic related to injury and poisoning which was made. The median length of stay was nearly equal to one week and for accidental falls, this value is three times higher. The median cost, from the social security point of view, for all injuries was equal to € 1377 and there was a higher median cost within the falls group.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study based on hospitals data provides important information both on factors associated with and on hospital costs generated by injuries.
authors.affiliation: Research Center of Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Clinical Research, School of Public Health, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Route de Lennik 808, CP 598, 1070 Brussels, Belgium.
authors.forename: Christelle
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-0652-6583
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Senterre
authors.affiliation: Research Center of Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Clinical Research, School of Public Health, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Route de Lennik 808, CP 598, 1070 Brussels, Belgium.
authors.forename: Alain
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Levêque
authors.affiliation: Research Center of Health Economics, Hospital's Management and Nursing, School of Public Health, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Route de Lennik 808, CP 592, 1070 Brussels, Belgium.
authors.forename: Lionel
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Di Pierdomenico
authors.affiliation: Research Center of Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Clinical Research, School of Public Health, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Route de Lennik 808, CP 598, 1070 Brussels, Belgium.
authors.forename: Michèle
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dramaix-Wilmet
authors.affiliation: Research Center of Health Economics, Hospital's Management and Nursing, School of Public Health, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Route de Lennik 808, CP 592, 1070 Brussels, Belgium.
authors.forename: Magali
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pirson
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D001530:Belgium / Q000453:epidemiology; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003365:Costs and Cost Analysis; D005260:Female; D006761:Hospitals; D006801:Humans; D007902:Length of Stay / Q000191:economics*; D008297:Male; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000191:economics* / Q000453:epidemiology*