Occupational injury trends derived from trauma registry and hospital discharge records: lessons for surveillance and research.

Abstract

The suitability of the Washington State Trauma Registry (WTR) for occupational injury surveillance was assessed via comparing estimated rates and trends with those derived from state hospital discharge data. Descriptive methods and negative binomial regression were used to model occupational injury trends (1998 to 2009). Nonlinear trends based on WTR data closely tracked those based on hospital discharge data, beginning about 2002. Rate estimates differed somewhat by data source and were most similar when a severity threshold was applied. Conclusions regarding temporal trends in work-related injury rates were the same using either data source. This study found substantial similarity between occupational injury trends estimated using either WTR or hospital discharge data. We conclude that a mature state trauma registry with mandatory reporting requirements can be used for surveillance of severe work-related traumatic injuries.