Britain and Ireland Deaths due to Injury - Commentary

Introduction

The Injury Observatory for Britain and Ireland (IOBI) has published an analysis of injury related mortality in Britain and Ireland between 1996 and 2003. Please see data sources and methodology for information regarding the approach. This document provides an overview of the main findings and their interpretation.

There is always some year to year variability in the number of deaths from any cause in any given area. When comparing numbers or rates of death between areas, or within areas over time, it is important to distinguish between random fluctuations and real differences in the data. Statistical tests are used to help make these judgements. In the text below, the terms ‘significantly higher’ or ‘significantly lower’ are used to describe differences which are likely to be real rather than due to random fluctuations in numbers. With large numbers, small differences can be statistically significant. It is important to consider the size of any difference between or within areas when interpreting the implications of significant results.

Sometimes, differences can be artificial and due to different data coding rules and interpretations applied in different countries at various points in time. This has been noted where clearly the case and is summarised in further comments on findings.

Further work is required to determine why injury mortality rates vary substantially between countries, to learn from countries and regions which appear to be more successful in reducing injuries, and to apply this knowledge in all areas.

Main findings

All deaths due to injury
All unintentional deaths due to injury
Comparing types of unintentional death
Unintentional deaths – falls
Unintentional deaths - motor vehicle transport accidents
Unintentional deaths – pedestrians
Unintentional deaths – drowning
Unintentional deaths - fire/flame
Unintentional deaths – poisoning
Intentional or undetermined deaths – poisoning
Comparing intent
Problems analysing intent
Homicides
Suicides
Undetermined intent deaths

Further comments on findings

Data sources and methodology – overview
Diagnosis codes used
Production of data and analysis
Analysing trend data
Occurrences rather than registrations
Age-standardised rates
95% confidence intervals