title: Injuries and Safe Communities Accreditation: Is there a link?
abstract: Safe Communities (SC) is a global movement that brings together community stakeholders to collaboratively address injury concerns. SC accreditation is a formal process through which communities are recognized for strengthening local injury prevention capacity. Six million Americans live in 25 SC sites, but no research has been done to understand the model's potential impact on this population. This study explored the temporal relationship between SC accreditation and injury trends in three SC sites from the state of Illinois-Arlington Heights, Itasca, and New Lenox. Hospitalization data, including patient demographics, exposure information, injury outcomes, and economic variables, were obtained from a statewide hospital discharge database for a 12-year period (1999-2011). Joinpoint regression models were fitted to identify any periods of significant change, examine the direction of the injury trend, and to estimate monthly percent changes in injury counts and rates. Poisson random-intercept regression measured the average total change since the official SC accreditation for the three communities combined and compared them to three matched control sites. In joinpoint regression, one of the SC sites showed a 10-year increase in hospitalization cases and rates followed by a two-year decline, and the trend reversal occurred while the community was pursuing the SC accreditation. Injury hospitalizations decreased after accreditation compared to the pre-accreditation period when SC sites were compared to their control counterparts using Poisson modeling. Our findings suggest that the SC model may be a promising approach to reduce injuries. Further research is warranted to replicate these findings in other communities.
authors.affiliation: National Safety Council, Department of Research and Safety Management Solutions, 1121 Spring Lake Drive, Itasca, IL 60143, United States. Electronic address: sergey.sinelnikov@nsc.org.
authors.forename: Sergey
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sinelnikov
authors.affiliation: University of Illinois at Chicago, School of Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Division, Chicago, IL 60612, United States.
authors.forename: Lee S
authors.initials: LS
authors.lastname: Friedman
authors.affiliation: National Safety Council, Department of Research and Safety Management Solutions, 1121 Spring Lake Drive, Itasca, IL 60143, United States.
authors.forename: Emily A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Chavez
mesh_terms: D000068:Accreditation; D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006760:Hospitalization / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D007087:Illinois; D008297:Male; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012111:Residence Characteristics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012449:Safety / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology*
keywords: Evaluation research; Hospitalization; Joinpoint regression; Mixed regression; Safe communities