National accident statistics in European countries as well as in many other countries are based on data recorded by the police. Generally, such data also include police reported estimates of the injury severity of accident victims. While the number of traffic fatalities is usually very reliable, information on the number of surviving casualties and the severity of their injuries is of a lesser quality. Latest policy approaches such as the EU Vision 2020, however, shift the focus from fatalities to ...
National accident statistics in European countries as well as in many other countries are based on data recorded by the police. Generally, such data also include police reported estimates of the injury severity of accident victims. While the number of traffic fatalities is usually very reliable, information on the number of surviving casualties and the severity of their injuries is of a lesser quality. Latest policy approaches such as the EU Vision 2020, however, shift the focus from fatalities to the seriously injured. To formulate reasonable targets for reducing the number of persons seriously injured in traffic accidents, detailed information on the injury severity is needed for assessing the status quo as well as for monitoring the progress. Recent approaches to improve the data basis therefore call for a classification of injury severity using the Abbreviated Injury Scale (AIS). Serious injuries in terms of MAIS3+ are of particular concern. While there is currently no general agreement on how such data should be derived, different recommendations are available (see e.g. [1]). In this study an approach to combine Swiss national accident data and hospital data was explored [2]. AIS codes were derived based on available ICD data. Similar approaches were already performed in the past (e.g. [3‐ 5]), but are not available for standard use. This study thus highlights the need for international harmonisation of methods by which AIS data should be established if comparable data is to be obtained.
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