J. Ozanne-smith - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by J. Ozanne-smith

Australian Journal of Psychology, 2006

Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health, 1977

We studied unintentional paediatric eucalyptus oil poisoning to identify potential intervention s... more We studied unintentional paediatric eucalyptus oil poisoning to identify potential intervention strategies. The epidemiology of paediatric eucalyptus oil poisoning in Victoria was determined by analysis of four databases. The sequence of events preceding ingestion was examined by a telephone survey involving 109 parents or guardians of children under five years involved in an actual or suspected ingestion of eucalyptus oil. Such children were identified prospectively from all callers during a nine-month period to the Victorian Poisons Information Centre and those presenting to the emergency departments of the participating hospitals of the Victorian Injury Surveillance System. Eucalyptus oil was a leading agent associated with hospitalisation for poisoning among Victorian children aged under five years. In the telephone survey, 90 incidents were found to involve vaporiser solutions, 15 eucalyptus oil preparations, and the remainder other eucalyptus-oil-containing products of a medicinal nature. Regardless of the type of product, 74 per cent gained access via a home vaporiser unit, most frequently placed at ground level. Although amounts ingested are usually small, the reported range of toxic doses is wide, necessitating at least a medical assessment following ingestion. Potential countermeasures identified in a consultative workshop included: discontinuing the use of eucalyptus oil as a therapeutic agent; confirmation that vaporiser-well residues are nontoxic; removal of barriers to product reregistration following safety-related modifications; improved child-resistant closures; discouraging vaporiser use for respiratory infections among young children; and development and dissemination of protocols for treatment of suspected ingestion.

PURPOSE: To develop a standardised sports injury data collection form, associated coding scheme a... more PURPOSE: To develop a standardised sports injury data collection form, associated coding scheme and data entry/analysis system that takes into account both national and international data system compatibility and sport-specific needs. In the Australian context, this needs to be able to be used across a broad range of health professionals and both elite and community-based sports. METHOD: A computerised data entry system was developed using Epi Info V.6, which is a programming system designed to handle epidemiologic data in questionnaire format. It is a public domain software, developed for public health use by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, US. This package was chosen for its ability to allow the design of a data entry screen that looks similar to the data collection form, with a mixture of text and codes, quite quickly and easily. A prototype was tested during the World Police and Fire Games in Melbourne, February 1995. RESULTS: This paper will show the ease at which data can be recorded into the system via the data entry screen and then produce output whether it be on site or in the office. It was found that installation of the software and the data collection was quite simple, allowing it to be used at various locations. The system was also used to perform simple analyses of the data. Data can be saved in different formats therefore making it compatible with other analysis packages. CONCLUSIONS: A data entry system has been developed that can be adapted quite easily and used to collect data at various sporting events by sports medicine and health professionals. The system can be stored on a portable computer and used on site as minimal training is required. Help screens are provided in the screen to guide and assist the user. Data can also be transferred to a central injury surveillance system. The computerised data entry and analysis system provides data in a timely informative way.

This report examines current casualty crash data collections and makes recommendations for improv... more This report examines current casualty crash data collections and makes recommendations for improved data collection methodologies for crashes resulting in hospitalisation and casualty crashes not resulting in hospitalisation. Recommendations include the increased utilisation of health sector data as well as augmentation of police reported crash data. Major recommendations include linkage of road crash databases with hospital morbidity files to improve data quality; use of hospital morbidity files to more accurately monitor serious injury rates; the application of AIS scoring to validate the severity of injury required for hospital admission; use of emergency department data to identify non-admitted crash victims for the purpose of enumeration; linkage of injury surveillance data with road crash databases to better describe crash types resulting in less severe injuries and to determine the extent of under-reporting in police reports; general practitioner sampling to estimate the prop...

Medical Journal of Australia, 1998

Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport, 2004

Introduction: Injuries sustained by Australian Defence Force (ADF) personnel during non-combat mi... more Introduction: Injuries sustained by Australian Defence Force (ADF) personnel during non-combat military training and sports activity are associated with increasing costs due to work days lost, medical treatment, compensation, and early retirement. In 2001, the ADF commissioned a systematic review of the evidence-base for reducing injuries associated with physical activity, while at the same time improving physical activity participation rates to sustain a trained, fit and deployable workforce. Method: Literature from on-line library databases, relevant unclassified military reports, and material from previously published sport-specific injury countermeasure reviews were systematically and critically analysed to address the study aims. Results: Modification of intensity, frequency and duration of basic military training activities and improved equipment is likely to reduce injury occurrence. Sports injury countermeasures used for the civilian population have merit for the ADF physical activity program. Injury countermeasures should be designed to minimise any possible deterrent effect on the motivation to participate in regular physical activity. Increasing the participation of ADF personnel in physical activity in the presence of evidence-based injury prevention strategies has the potential to increase health, fitness and deployability with minimal impact on injury frequency. Conclusion: Recommendations arising from the review include injury intervention trials in basic military training and sports. These and other interventions should be supported by refinement to ADF injury surveillance systems. Research should focus on interventions with the greatest gain for fitness, deployability, and cost effectiveness.

Injury Prevention, 2010

Background Increased belt-positioning booster seat (BPB) awareness and access have led to increas... more Background Increased belt-positioning booster seat (BPB) awareness and access have led to increased use in the USA. Although transportation in Beijing is rapidly becoming 'motorised', Beijing's population has limited awareness of or access to BPBs. Objective To explore the efficacy and acceptability of using a US-developed BPB use promotion intervention in Beijing. Design Methods were adapted from a previously executed US-based study involving parents of 3e8-year old children. Focus groups (five groups, 71 participants) elicited behavioural antecedents to BPB use and reactions to video interventions promoting BPB use: a Chinese-produced instructional video and an Englishlanguage (dubbed into Mandarin) video that delivered concrete, theoretically driven messages through a personal story. Immediately after the focus groups, participants were provided with education and a free BPB. Participants were contacted 6 weeks later via telephone about use, knowledge and attitudes. Results Chinese parents saw safety as the most important benefit of BPB use; lack of accurate knowledge about and access to BPBs were parents' most prevalent barriers. Chinese participants described the videos as persuasive and instructional. At 6 weeks, participants remembered the messages of the English-language video, and reported BPB use increased from a baseline of 15.5% to 85.5%. Conclusions This study shows the possibility of exporting US-designed prevention interventions dubbed into Mandarin without the need to alter their original context (in this case, an African American family in a US setting) into a Chinese context. Successful cultural translation involved ensuring that the behavioural antecedents targeted in the intervention (eg, barriers and benefits) were of relevance to the Chinese population.

Injury Prevention, 2004

A recent case series study found that only 4.7% of 402 playgrounds in which arm fractures occurre... more A recent case series study found that only 4.7% of 402 playgrounds in which arm fractures occurred in Victorian schools complied with the recommended 20 cm depth of tanbark. Tanbark depths at fall sites varied between 0-27 cm and the mean was 11.1 (5.0) cm. The purposes of the present study were to (1) measure impact attenuation properties of shallow and compacted depths of tanbark; (2) validate laboratory measurements with in situ data; (3) compare impact attenuation properties of compacted tanbark with an Australian manufactured rubber based surface material; and (4) study the impact performance of rubber and tanbark hybrid surfacing. Methods: A standard test headform was dropped on tanbark and rubber surfaces in a laboratory setting to measure peak impact deceleration and head injury criterion (HIC) values. Variations in surface depth ranged from 2 cm-20 cm (tanbark) and 2 cm-9 cm (rubber). Drop height ranged from 0.5 m-2.5 m. Results: Peak deceleration and HIC increased with increasing drop height and decreasing surface depth. Laboratory measurements at depths less than 8 cm overestimated peak deceleration and HIC values compared with in situ playground measurements. Impact attenuation of a 9 cm thick bilaminate rubber material was comparable to that of an 18 cm depth of compacted tanbark. Rubber-tanbark hybrid surfaces showed improved impact attenuation over individual surfaces. Conclusions: Compacted tanbark of depth less than 8 cm is ineffective in attenuating playground falls, resulting in excessive impact deceleration and HIC values. Shallow and compacted tanbark found in many Victorian school playgrounds poses a high risk for severe head injury. This calls for stricter enforcement of playground surface depth compliance.

Injury Prevention, 2012

Background Along with the booming market for Electric bicycles (E-bikes) in China, increasing con... more Background Along with the booming market for Electric bicycles (E-bikes) in China, increasing concerns are raised about riders' safety. Police reported 40% fatal crashes involving E-bikers; however knowledge of serious injuries was missing.

Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health, 2000

Objective: To estimate the injury hospitalisation trends and the age and gender patterns in Victo... more Objective: To estimate the injury hospitalisation trends and the age and gender patterns in Victoria between 1987/88 and 1996/97. Method: The Victorian Injury Surveillance System maintains a collection of injury hospitalisation records in Victoria. We used loglinear models for rates to estimate the temporal trends and patterns by age group and gender of all-injury and cause-specific injury hospitalisation rates. Results: The all-injury hospitalisation rate appeared stable until 1992/93, after which it increased substantially (1993/94 was 1.13 times that of 1987/88). While motor vehicle crash and fire/burn/scald injury hospitalisation rates decreased substantially, suicide attempt and selfinflicted injury hospitalisation rates more than doubled. The all-injury hospitalisation rate was highest for persons 75 years of age and older. Females had a lower allinjury hospitalisation rate than males up to 60-64 years of age and a higher rate thereafter. The cause-specific injury hospitalisation rates showed various age and gender patterns. Conclusion: Substantial increases in the all-injury hospitalisation rate were observed after the introduction of the casemix funding policy to public hospitals. There were remarkable variations in temporal trend and age and gender patterns of injury hospitalisation rates by cause of injury. Implications: Hospitalised injuries generally are serious and incur high cost. Certain injury causes and age and gender groups should receive particular attention for prevention efforts. The use of injury surveillance based on hospitalisation records should be improved and further expanded.

Injury Prevention, 1998

Objectives-To determine the epidemiological features of injuries associated with fireworks. Desig... more Objectives-To determine the epidemiological features of injuries associated with fireworks. Design-A retrospective study of reported cases. Subjects-Subjects were those who attended selected Victorian hospital emergency departments (n=17) and those admitted for firework related injuries (n=16). Results-The mean (SD) age of attenders at emergency department between January 1988 and June 1996, was 8.9 (6.2) years and most (88%) were under 18 years of age. Males accounted for 71% of the cases. The most common anatomical sites and types of injury were head (47%) and burns (88%), respectively. About 53% of the injuries were caused by firecrackers, the remainder by sparklers and penny bangers. Among those admitted to hospital between July 1987 and June 1996, the mean (SD) age was 22.9 (14.8) years and 50% were under 18 years of age. Males accounted for 87% of the cases. There was a significant diVerence in mean age between those admitted and not admitted to hospital, the former being significantly older. Conclusions-Although relatively rare, injuries from fireworks still occur in Victoria after legislative restrictions on their sale in 1985. Consequently, there is a potential risk for injuries among children, particularly from firecrackers. More enforcement of the regulations, education, and parental supervision are needed to prevent injuries from fireworks.

Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport, 1999

Medical coverage services have the potential to play a key role in sports injury surveillance act... more Medical coverage services have the potential to play a key role in sports injury surveillance activities. Provided that injury surveillance activities are fully coordinated and a standardised data collection procedure is implemented, valuable sports injury information can be obtained by medical coverage personnel. This paper describes the development of a standardised injury data collection form for use by medical coverage personnel dunng large sporting events. The form was trialed during two large sporting events in Melbourne, Australia in 1995. A range of sports medicine and sports first aid personnel was involved in the trial and injury details were collected on all persons receiving treatment from the coverage team, irrespective of injury severity. The final sports injury data collection form is easy to use, can be used by all types of medical coverage personnel and can provide valuable data in a timely manner. The form has since been adopted as the injury data collection standard at a number of major Australian sporting events. Recommendations for incorporating injury surveillance activities when organising sporting events and planning medical coverage services are given. Suggestions for mmomising compliance with data collection procedures are also discussed.

British Journal of Sports Medicine, 1998

Objective-Despite the rise in specialist clinical services for the management of sports and activ... more Objective-Despite the rise in specialist clinical services for the management of sports and active recreation injury, many patients attend hospital emergency departments for treatment. The purpose of this study was to describe sports injury cases presented to selected hospital emergency departments around Australia for the period 1989-1993. Methods-Routinely collected emergency department injury presentation data from the Australian National Injury Surveillance Unit were examined. Data on 98 040 sports and active recreation emergency department presentations were analysed. Sports and active recreation activities were ranked according to frequency of presentation. Relative proportions of injury type and body region injured were determined. Data are presented separately for children (<15 years of age) and adults (>15 years of age). Results-Among the 10 activities that most commonly led to a sports or active recreation injury presentation for all ages were cycling, Australian football, basketball, soccer, cricket, netball, and rugby. For children, injuries were also commonly associated with roller skating/blading, skateboarding, and trampolining. Hockey, martial arts, and dancing injuries were frequent in adults. Most sporting injuries occurred during organised competition or practice whereas the active recreation injuries occurred in a variety of settings. Fractures, strains, and sprains, particularly to the lower and upper extremities, were common types of injury. Conclusion-The rich, but nevertheless limited, information available about sports and active recreation injuries from data collected in emergency departments indicates that these activities are a common context for injury at the community level in Australia.

ABSTRACT Work factors contributing to injury deaths often transcend conventional boundaries of wo... more ABSTRACT Work factors contributing to injury deaths often transcend conventional boundaries of work activity and location. This article presents a classification system developed to identify and categorise an expanded range of injury deaths connected to work. Development of the classification system was informed from a review of existing definitions, classification systems and research studies on work-related injury. The system was then tested as a pilot on all injury deaths reported to the Victorian State Coroner’s Office in 2001. The classification system comprised four key decisions: case type; intent; work status; and work-relatedness. The application of the system to 1,496 coroner-reported injury deaths in 2001 resulted in the classification of 286 (19.1%) deaths as involving some degree of work-relatedness. This approach has the capacity to more broadly identify and examine the nature and extent of work factors associated with injury deaths in Victoria.

Injury Prevention, 2010

In light of an emerging epidemic identified in the United States and Canada, to identify trends i... more In light of an emerging epidemic identified in the United States and Canada, to identify trends in fatal drug toxicity involving oxycodone and the demographic characteristics and indicators of socioeconomic disadvantage of the deceased. Population-based observational study in Victoria, Australia. Decedents whose death was reported to the Victorian Coroner between 2000 and 2009 and where oxycodone was detected. Association between supply of oxycodone and deaths. Demographic characteristics of decedents. Rate ratios of the rural or metropolitan location and socioeconomic indicators of disadvantage of the deceased. Supply to Victoria has increased nine-fold from 7.5 mg per capita in 2000 to 67.5 mg per capita in 2009. Detection of oxycodone in deaths reported to the Victorian Coroner has increased from 4 (0.08/100,000 population) in 2000 to 97 (1.78/100,000 population) in 2009-a 21-fold increase in deaths. Of the 320 cases described, 53.8% (172) were the result of drug toxicity. Of these, 52.3% were unintentional and 19.8% intentional self-harm; the remaining 27.9% are either still under investigation by the coroner or intent is unknown. Drug toxicity deaths were overrepresented in both rural areas and areas indexed with high levels of disadvantage. The substantial increase in the number of deaths involving oxycodone is strongly and significantly associated with the increase in supply. Most drug toxicity deaths involving oxycodone were unintentional. This newly identified trend in fatalities in Victoria supports concerns that a pattern of increasing deaths involving oxycodone is emerging globally.

Australian Journal of Psychology, 2006

Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health, 1977

We studied unintentional paediatric eucalyptus oil poisoning to identify potential intervention s... more We studied unintentional paediatric eucalyptus oil poisoning to identify potential intervention strategies. The epidemiology of paediatric eucalyptus oil poisoning in Victoria was determined by analysis of four databases. The sequence of events preceding ingestion was examined by a telephone survey involving 109 parents or guardians of children under five years involved in an actual or suspected ingestion of eucalyptus oil. Such children were identified prospectively from all callers during a nine-month period to the Victorian Poisons Information Centre and those presenting to the emergency departments of the participating hospitals of the Victorian Injury Surveillance System. Eucalyptus oil was a leading agent associated with hospitalisation for poisoning among Victorian children aged under five years. In the telephone survey, 90 incidents were found to involve vaporiser solutions, 15 eucalyptus oil preparations, and the remainder other eucalyptus-oil-containing products of a medicinal nature. Regardless of the type of product, 74 per cent gained access via a home vaporiser unit, most frequently placed at ground level. Although amounts ingested are usually small, the reported range of toxic doses is wide, necessitating at least a medical assessment following ingestion. Potential countermeasures identified in a consultative workshop included: discontinuing the use of eucalyptus oil as a therapeutic agent; confirmation that vaporiser-well residues are nontoxic; removal of barriers to product reregistration following safety-related modifications; improved child-resistant closures; discouraging vaporiser use for respiratory infections among young children; and development and dissemination of protocols for treatment of suspected ingestion.

PURPOSE: To develop a standardised sports injury data collection form, associated coding scheme a... more PURPOSE: To develop a standardised sports injury data collection form, associated coding scheme and data entry/analysis system that takes into account both national and international data system compatibility and sport-specific needs. In the Australian context, this needs to be able to be used across a broad range of health professionals and both elite and community-based sports. METHOD: A computerised data entry system was developed using Epi Info V.6, which is a programming system designed to handle epidemiologic data in questionnaire format. It is a public domain software, developed for public health use by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, US. This package was chosen for its ability to allow the design of a data entry screen that looks similar to the data collection form, with a mixture of text and codes, quite quickly and easily. A prototype was tested during the World Police and Fire Games in Melbourne, February 1995. RESULTS: This paper will show the ease at which data can be recorded into the system via the data entry screen and then produce output whether it be on site or in the office. It was found that installation of the software and the data collection was quite simple, allowing it to be used at various locations. The system was also used to perform simple analyses of the data. Data can be saved in different formats therefore making it compatible with other analysis packages. CONCLUSIONS: A data entry system has been developed that can be adapted quite easily and used to collect data at various sporting events by sports medicine and health professionals. The system can be stored on a portable computer and used on site as minimal training is required. Help screens are provided in the screen to guide and assist the user. Data can also be transferred to a central injury surveillance system. The computerised data entry and analysis system provides data in a timely informative way.

This report examines current casualty crash data collections and makes recommendations for improv... more This report examines current casualty crash data collections and makes recommendations for improved data collection methodologies for crashes resulting in hospitalisation and casualty crashes not resulting in hospitalisation. Recommendations include the increased utilisation of health sector data as well as augmentation of police reported crash data. Major recommendations include linkage of road crash databases with hospital morbidity files to improve data quality; use of hospital morbidity files to more accurately monitor serious injury rates; the application of AIS scoring to validate the severity of injury required for hospital admission; use of emergency department data to identify non-admitted crash victims for the purpose of enumeration; linkage of injury surveillance data with road crash databases to better describe crash types resulting in less severe injuries and to determine the extent of under-reporting in police reports; general practitioner sampling to estimate the prop...

Medical Journal of Australia, 1998

Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport, 2004

Introduction: Injuries sustained by Australian Defence Force (ADF) personnel during non-combat mi... more Introduction: Injuries sustained by Australian Defence Force (ADF) personnel during non-combat military training and sports activity are associated with increasing costs due to work days lost, medical treatment, compensation, and early retirement. In 2001, the ADF commissioned a systematic review of the evidence-base for reducing injuries associated with physical activity, while at the same time improving physical activity participation rates to sustain a trained, fit and deployable workforce. Method: Literature from on-line library databases, relevant unclassified military reports, and material from previously published sport-specific injury countermeasure reviews were systematically and critically analysed to address the study aims. Results: Modification of intensity, frequency and duration of basic military training activities and improved equipment is likely to reduce injury occurrence. Sports injury countermeasures used for the civilian population have merit for the ADF physical activity program. Injury countermeasures should be designed to minimise any possible deterrent effect on the motivation to participate in regular physical activity. Increasing the participation of ADF personnel in physical activity in the presence of evidence-based injury prevention strategies has the potential to increase health, fitness and deployability with minimal impact on injury frequency. Conclusion: Recommendations arising from the review include injury intervention trials in basic military training and sports. These and other interventions should be supported by refinement to ADF injury surveillance systems. Research should focus on interventions with the greatest gain for fitness, deployability, and cost effectiveness.

Injury Prevention, 2010

Background Increased belt-positioning booster seat (BPB) awareness and access have led to increas... more Background Increased belt-positioning booster seat (BPB) awareness and access have led to increased use in the USA. Although transportation in Beijing is rapidly becoming 'motorised', Beijing's population has limited awareness of or access to BPBs. Objective To explore the efficacy and acceptability of using a US-developed BPB use promotion intervention in Beijing. Design Methods were adapted from a previously executed US-based study involving parents of 3e8-year old children. Focus groups (five groups, 71 participants) elicited behavioural antecedents to BPB use and reactions to video interventions promoting BPB use: a Chinese-produced instructional video and an Englishlanguage (dubbed into Mandarin) video that delivered concrete, theoretically driven messages through a personal story. Immediately after the focus groups, participants were provided with education and a free BPB. Participants were contacted 6 weeks later via telephone about use, knowledge and attitudes. Results Chinese parents saw safety as the most important benefit of BPB use; lack of accurate knowledge about and access to BPBs were parents' most prevalent barriers. Chinese participants described the videos as persuasive and instructional. At 6 weeks, participants remembered the messages of the English-language video, and reported BPB use increased from a baseline of 15.5% to 85.5%. Conclusions This study shows the possibility of exporting US-designed prevention interventions dubbed into Mandarin without the need to alter their original context (in this case, an African American family in a US setting) into a Chinese context. Successful cultural translation involved ensuring that the behavioural antecedents targeted in the intervention (eg, barriers and benefits) were of relevance to the Chinese population.

Injury Prevention, 2004

A recent case series study found that only 4.7% of 402 playgrounds in which arm fractures occurre... more A recent case series study found that only 4.7% of 402 playgrounds in which arm fractures occurred in Victorian schools complied with the recommended 20 cm depth of tanbark. Tanbark depths at fall sites varied between 0-27 cm and the mean was 11.1 (5.0) cm. The purposes of the present study were to (1) measure impact attenuation properties of shallow and compacted depths of tanbark; (2) validate laboratory measurements with in situ data; (3) compare impact attenuation properties of compacted tanbark with an Australian manufactured rubber based surface material; and (4) study the impact performance of rubber and tanbark hybrid surfacing. Methods: A standard test headform was dropped on tanbark and rubber surfaces in a laboratory setting to measure peak impact deceleration and head injury criterion (HIC) values. Variations in surface depth ranged from 2 cm-20 cm (tanbark) and 2 cm-9 cm (rubber). Drop height ranged from 0.5 m-2.5 m. Results: Peak deceleration and HIC increased with increasing drop height and decreasing surface depth. Laboratory measurements at depths less than 8 cm overestimated peak deceleration and HIC values compared with in situ playground measurements. Impact attenuation of a 9 cm thick bilaminate rubber material was comparable to that of an 18 cm depth of compacted tanbark. Rubber-tanbark hybrid surfaces showed improved impact attenuation over individual surfaces. Conclusions: Compacted tanbark of depth less than 8 cm is ineffective in attenuating playground falls, resulting in excessive impact deceleration and HIC values. Shallow and compacted tanbark found in many Victorian school playgrounds poses a high risk for severe head injury. This calls for stricter enforcement of playground surface depth compliance.

Injury Prevention, 2012

Background Along with the booming market for Electric bicycles (E-bikes) in China, increasing con... more Background Along with the booming market for Electric bicycles (E-bikes) in China, increasing concerns are raised about riders' safety. Police reported 40% fatal crashes involving E-bikers; however knowledge of serious injuries was missing.

Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health, 2000

Objective: To estimate the injury hospitalisation trends and the age and gender patterns in Victo... more Objective: To estimate the injury hospitalisation trends and the age and gender patterns in Victoria between 1987/88 and 1996/97. Method: The Victorian Injury Surveillance System maintains a collection of injury hospitalisation records in Victoria. We used loglinear models for rates to estimate the temporal trends and patterns by age group and gender of all-injury and cause-specific injury hospitalisation rates. Results: The all-injury hospitalisation rate appeared stable until 1992/93, after which it increased substantially (1993/94 was 1.13 times that of 1987/88). While motor vehicle crash and fire/burn/scald injury hospitalisation rates decreased substantially, suicide attempt and selfinflicted injury hospitalisation rates more than doubled. The all-injury hospitalisation rate was highest for persons 75 years of age and older. Females had a lower allinjury hospitalisation rate than males up to 60-64 years of age and a higher rate thereafter. The cause-specific injury hospitalisation rates showed various age and gender patterns. Conclusion: Substantial increases in the all-injury hospitalisation rate were observed after the introduction of the casemix funding policy to public hospitals. There were remarkable variations in temporal trend and age and gender patterns of injury hospitalisation rates by cause of injury. Implications: Hospitalised injuries generally are serious and incur high cost. Certain injury causes and age and gender groups should receive particular attention for prevention efforts. The use of injury surveillance based on hospitalisation records should be improved and further expanded.

Injury Prevention, 1998

Objectives-To determine the epidemiological features of injuries associated with fireworks. Desig... more Objectives-To determine the epidemiological features of injuries associated with fireworks. Design-A retrospective study of reported cases. Subjects-Subjects were those who attended selected Victorian hospital emergency departments (n=17) and those admitted for firework related injuries (n=16). Results-The mean (SD) age of attenders at emergency department between January 1988 and June 1996, was 8.9 (6.2) years and most (88%) were under 18 years of age. Males accounted for 71% of the cases. The most common anatomical sites and types of injury were head (47%) and burns (88%), respectively. About 53% of the injuries were caused by firecrackers, the remainder by sparklers and penny bangers. Among those admitted to hospital between July 1987 and June 1996, the mean (SD) age was 22.9 (14.8) years and 50% were under 18 years of age. Males accounted for 87% of the cases. There was a significant diVerence in mean age between those admitted and not admitted to hospital, the former being significantly older. Conclusions-Although relatively rare, injuries from fireworks still occur in Victoria after legislative restrictions on their sale in 1985. Consequently, there is a potential risk for injuries among children, particularly from firecrackers. More enforcement of the regulations, education, and parental supervision are needed to prevent injuries from fireworks.

Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport, 1999

Medical coverage services have the potential to play a key role in sports injury surveillance act... more Medical coverage services have the potential to play a key role in sports injury surveillance activities. Provided that injury surveillance activities are fully coordinated and a standardised data collection procedure is implemented, valuable sports injury information can be obtained by medical coverage personnel. This paper describes the development of a standardised injury data collection form for use by medical coverage personnel dunng large sporting events. The form was trialed during two large sporting events in Melbourne, Australia in 1995. A range of sports medicine and sports first aid personnel was involved in the trial and injury details were collected on all persons receiving treatment from the coverage team, irrespective of injury severity. The final sports injury data collection form is easy to use, can be used by all types of medical coverage personnel and can provide valuable data in a timely manner. The form has since been adopted as the injury data collection standard at a number of major Australian sporting events. Recommendations for incorporating injury surveillance activities when organising sporting events and planning medical coverage services are given. Suggestions for mmomising compliance with data collection procedures are also discussed.

British Journal of Sports Medicine, 1998

Objective-Despite the rise in specialist clinical services for the management of sports and activ... more Objective-Despite the rise in specialist clinical services for the management of sports and active recreation injury, many patients attend hospital emergency departments for treatment. The purpose of this study was to describe sports injury cases presented to selected hospital emergency departments around Australia for the period 1989-1993. Methods-Routinely collected emergency department injury presentation data from the Australian National Injury Surveillance Unit were examined. Data on 98 040 sports and active recreation emergency department presentations were analysed. Sports and active recreation activities were ranked according to frequency of presentation. Relative proportions of injury type and body region injured were determined. Data are presented separately for children (<15 years of age) and adults (>15 years of age). Results-Among the 10 activities that most commonly led to a sports or active recreation injury presentation for all ages were cycling, Australian football, basketball, soccer, cricket, netball, and rugby. For children, injuries were also commonly associated with roller skating/blading, skateboarding, and trampolining. Hockey, martial arts, and dancing injuries were frequent in adults. Most sporting injuries occurred during organised competition or practice whereas the active recreation injuries occurred in a variety of settings. Fractures, strains, and sprains, particularly to the lower and upper extremities, were common types of injury. Conclusion-The rich, but nevertheless limited, information available about sports and active recreation injuries from data collected in emergency departments indicates that these activities are a common context for injury at the community level in Australia.

ABSTRACT Work factors contributing to injury deaths often transcend conventional boundaries of wo... more ABSTRACT Work factors contributing to injury deaths often transcend conventional boundaries of work activity and location. This article presents a classification system developed to identify and categorise an expanded range of injury deaths connected to work. Development of the classification system was informed from a review of existing definitions, classification systems and research studies on work-related injury. The system was then tested as a pilot on all injury deaths reported to the Victorian State Coroner’s Office in 2001. The classification system comprised four key decisions: case type; intent; work status; and work-relatedness. The application of the system to 1,496 coroner-reported injury deaths in 2001 resulted in the classification of 286 (19.1%) deaths as involving some degree of work-relatedness. This approach has the capacity to more broadly identify and examine the nature and extent of work factors associated with injury deaths in Victoria.

Injury Prevention, 2010

In light of an emerging epidemic identified in the United States and Canada, to identify trends i... more In light of an emerging epidemic identified in the United States and Canada, to identify trends in fatal drug toxicity involving oxycodone and the demographic characteristics and indicators of socioeconomic disadvantage of the deceased. Population-based observational study in Victoria, Australia. Decedents whose death was reported to the Victorian Coroner between 2000 and 2009 and where oxycodone was detected. Association between supply of oxycodone and deaths. Demographic characteristics of decedents. Rate ratios of the rural or metropolitan location and socioeconomic indicators of disadvantage of the deceased. Supply to Victoria has increased nine-fold from 7.5 mg per capita in 2000 to 67.5 mg per capita in 2009. Detection of oxycodone in deaths reported to the Victorian Coroner has increased from 4 (0.08/100,000 population) in 2000 to 97 (1.78/100,000 population) in 2009-a 21-fold increase in deaths. Of the 320 cases described, 53.8% (172) were the result of drug toxicity. Of these, 52.3% were unintentional and 19.8% intentional self-harm; the remaining 27.9% are either still under investigation by the coroner or intent is unknown. Drug toxicity deaths were overrepresented in both rural areas and areas indexed with high levels of disadvantage. The substantial increase in the number of deaths involving oxycodone is strongly and significantly associated with the increase in supply. Most drug toxicity deaths involving oxycodone were unintentional. This newly identified trend in fatalities in Victoria supports concerns that a pattern of increasing deaths involving oxycodone is emerging globally.