Most epidemiological studies are based on the classic triad of host, agent and environment. In injury epidemiology, a further parameter is available, that of time of occurrence. In an earlier study 1 based on data for Queensland for the three financial years 1969/70 to 1971/72, it was shown that: (a) there were more occupational injuries in the mornings of every weekday than in the afternoons; and (b) occupational injuries occurred most frequently on Mondays, with 23% of the weekly total. The corresponding figures for the rest of the week were 21% on Tuesdays; 20% on Wednesdays; 19% on Thursdays and 17% on Fridays Since then, several studies have reported generally similar findings for distribution by time of day, 2-6 although most were restricted to one year or to one industry. Studies of the distribution by day of week were fewer but included that of Afonja, 7 who found similar reductions in the working week (MondayFriday) for white (but not the smaller number of immigrant) workers in the English cities of Birmingham, Leeds and Bradford. A United States (US) study of 8,860 injuries in a car manufacturer in 1991 8 also showed a steady reduction in the number of injuries on successive days of the working week.However, the most striking similarity was contained in the 1971-74 data of Mason 2 of the Canadian Province of British Columbia. A comparison with the Queensland data for the same four years showed that, although the Queensland totals were higher, the percentage distribution of compensated injuries in these different jurisdictions was almost identical. Details are shown in Table 1. Hopefully, the results of these and later studies may suggest remedial measures that will help reduce the number of occupational injuries.
Accident reports for 67 patients admitted to 3 spinal cord injury units III Australia in 1987 as a result of motor vehicle accidents were examined. Two thirds of the accidents occurred during the Friday-Saturday-Sunday leisure period and about 60% occurred during the November-February Australian summer holiday season. This conforms to the general Australian pattern of road trauma which is predominantly a consequence of leisure travel. The likelihood of a road traffic injury resulting in damage to the spinal cord was highest for motorcyclists whose average age was 22. 7, lower than that for vehicle drivers (33. 7) and vehicle passengers (38. 1). However the most important finding is that most car occupants received their injuries when a motor vehicle overturned. As vehicle rollovers are relatively rare in the total spectrum of traffic crashes this distribution is thought not to have been previously reported. Some possible mechanisms of spinal cord injury are reviewed and engineering solutions to prevent future injuries are recommended. The paper also emphasises the unique opportunity for Australia to collect meaningful data on the causes of spinal injury and advocates the creation of an Australian Spinal Cord Injury Registry.
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