The quality of national data  on injuries requiring hospitalisation

McKenzie, Kirsten; Harding, Leith F; Walker, Susan M; Harrison, James E; Enraght-Moony, Emma L; Waller, Garry S

doi:10.5694/j.1326-5377.2006.tb00673.x

Topics

To the Editor: Quality data about patients with injuries requiring hospitalisation is vital to injury policy and prevention strategies.1 The ICD-10-AM is used in Australia to assign codes to diagnoses, procedures, and causes of injury recorded in patient medical records.2 This coded hospital morbidity data provides a key surveillance tool for injury researchers.

1 National Centre for Classification in Health, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, QLD.
2 National Injury Surveillance Unit, Research Centre for Injury Studies, Flinders University of South Australia, Adelaide, SA.

Correspondence: k.mckenzie@qut.edu.au

1. Mathers C, Penm R. Health system costs of injury, poisoning and musculoskeletal disorders in Australia 1993-94. Canberra: Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 1999. (AIHW Catalogue No. HWE 12; Health and welfare expenditure series No. 6).
2. National Centre for Classification in Health. The international statistical classification of diseases and related health problems, 10th revision, Australian modification (ICD-10-AM). 4th ed. Sydney: NCHH, 2004.
3. National Centre for Classification in Health. The good clinical documentation guide. 1st ed. Sydney: NCCH, 2003.
4. LeMier M, Cummings P, West TA. Accuracy of external cause of injury codes reported in Washington State hospital discharge records. Inj Prev 2001; 7: 334-338.
5. Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. Injury prevention and control. 2005. http://www.aihw. gov.au/nhpa/injury (accessed Feb 2006).

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