title: Analysis of Shahid Rajaee hospital administrative data on injuries resulting from car accidents in Shiraz, Iran: 2011-2014 data.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The administrative data from trauma centers could serve as potential sources of invaluable information while studying epidemiologic features of car accidents. In this cross-sectional analysis of Shahid Rajaee hospital administrative data, we aimed to evaluate patients injured in car accidents in terms of age, gender, injury severity, injured body regions and hospitalization outcome in the recent four years (2011-2014).
  
  
  METHODS
  The hospital registry was accessed at Shiraz Trauma Research Center (Shiraz, Iran) and the admission's unit data were merged with the information gathered upon discharge. A total number of 27,222 car accident patients aged over 15 years with International Classification of Diseases 10th revision (ICD-10) external causes of injury codes (V40.9-V49.9) were analyzed. Injury severity score and injured body regions were determined based on converting ICD-10 injury codes to Abbreviated Injury Scale (AIS-98) severity codes using a domestically developed electronic algorithm. A binary logistic regression model was applied to the data to examine the contribution of all independent variables to in-hospital mortality.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Men accounted for 68.9% of the injuries and the male to female ratio was 2.2:1. The age of the studied population was (34 ± 15) years, with more than 77.2% of the population located in the 15-45 years old age group. Head and neck was the most commonly injured body region (39.0%) followed by extremities (27.2%). Injury severity score (ISS) was calculated for 13,152 (48.3%) patients, of whom, 80.9% had severity scores less than 9. There were 332 patients (1.2%) admitted to the intensive care units and 422 in-hospital fatalities (1.5%) were recorded during the study period. Age above 65 years [OR = 7.4, 95% CI (5.0-10.9)], ISS above 16 [OR = 9.1, 95% CI (5.5-14.9)], sustaining a thoracic injury [OR = 7.4, 95% CI (4.6-11.9)] and head injury [OR = 4.9, 95% CI (3.1-7.6)] were the most important independent predictors of death following car accidents.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Hospital administrative databases of this hospital could be used as reliable sources of information in providing epidemiologic reports of car accidents in terms of severity and outcomes. Improving the quality of recordings at hospital databases is an important initial step towards more comprehensive injury surveillance in Fars, Iran.
authors.affiliation: Trauma Research Center, Shahid Rajaee Trauma Hospital, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.
authors.forename: Mahnaz
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yadollahi
authors.affiliation: Trauma Research Center, Shahid Rajaee Trauma Hospital, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.
authors.forename: Aida
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ghiassee
authors.affiliation: Trauma Research Center, Shahid Rajaee Trauma Hospital, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran. Electronic address: anvarmm@sums.ac.ir.
authors.forename: Mehrdad
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Anvar
authors.affiliation: Research Center for Health Sciences, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.
authors.forename: Hale
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ghaem
authors.affiliation: Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.
authors.forename: Mohammad
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Farahmand
mesh_terms: D000063:Accidents, Traffic; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001334:Automobile Driving; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D017052:Hospital Mortality; D006801:Humans; D015601:Injury Severity Score; D007492:Iran / Q000453:epidemiology; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012042:Registries; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology*
keywords: Car accidents; Epidemiology; Injury severity score; Injury surveillance; Mortality predictors