Self-reported injury rates in New Zealand.

AIM: The study aimed to obtain baseline information on the incidence and nature of self-reported injuries in New Zealand.

METHODS

A cross-sectional survey was conducted of approximately 400 randomly-selected households from each of 13 Territorial Local Authorities across New Zealand, giving a total sample size of 5282. Respondents were asked if anyone in their household had been treated by a medical doctor in the previous twelve months for any injuries and, if so, details of the injury event were recorded.

RESULTS

Forty one per cent of households reported that someone in the household had sustained an injury. The most common types of injuries were falls (33%), sports-related injuries (28%) and injuries caused by lifting an object (16%). Only eight per cent of the injuries required overnight hospitalisation.

CONCLUSION

The findings from this study indicate that the total burden of injury in New Zealand is much larger than estimated by routinely-collected injury hospitalisation data.