Head Injuries during One Year in a Central Hospital in Norway: A Prospective Study

Abstract

Annual age-adjusted incidence rate of head injuries in Akershus County in 1974 was estimated to be 236/100,000, 307/100,000 for males and 164/100,000 for females. The highest incidence rate occurred in males in the age group 10–19 years (489/100,000) and the lowest among females in the age group 30–39 (68/100,000). In all age groups, the incidence rate was higher in males than females. This prospective study included 488 patients, of whom 88.9% had minor head injuries and 11.1% severe head injuries. 16 patients (3.3%) died due to their head trauma. Skull fracture was detected in 10.4% of the patients who survived the first 24 h, and 2.5% had operations. The mean hospital stay was 8.8 days, 10.2 days for the patients injured in traffic accidents and 7.0 days for the others. Besides having a higher incidence rate of head injuries, males suffered severe head injuries more often and their death rate was higher than head-injured females.

The Epidemiology of Hospital-Referred Head Injury in Northern Norway

“…Thirty-two percent of the injuries were classified as minimal and 49% as mild. This is in accordance with other studies, reporting about 80% of hospital-referred head injuries as minor [3,4,11]. Furthermore, it has been reported that only 20% of patients with head injury are referred to the hospital [6,7].…”

“…Our hospital admittance rate of 169/100,000 population is significantly lower than those reported in previous Norwegian studies [2,3]. This might indicate a decreasing incidence of head injuries in Norway, probably due to a decrease in road traffic accidents [13].…”

“…The annual rates of hospital-admitted head injuries vary between 91 and 403/ 100,000 population in different western countries [1]. In two Norwegian studies performed in the 1970s, the annual incidence rates were Ingebrigtsen/Mortensen/Romner 200 and 236/100,000 population, respectively [2,3].…”

Headache 22 Years after Hospitalization for Head Injury Compared with Matched Community Controls

“…We also had no data on analgesic use, another potential confounder. We did not classify the headache 3 months after the head injury according to the diagnostic criteria of the International Headache Society, which emphasized the time between the head trauma and headache onset, because this classification was prepared several years after collection of baseline data in the present study [10] .…”

“…Between March 10, 1974 andMarch 9, 1975 all patients admitted to the hospital with head injury were included in a prospective study [10] . Head injury was defined as trauma to the head, face or neck with at least one of the following symptoms or signs: unconsciousness, post-traumatic amnesia (PTA), skull fracture, neck fracture or head trauma combined with headache, nausea or vomiting during the first day after the accident [10] . The attending surgeon filled in a detailed registration form at admission.…”