Occupational Injury Surveillance Using the Washington State Trauma Registry

Abstract

Capturing industry and occupation would enhance utility for occupational injury surveillance and research. Trauma registry data could contribute to prevention planning/evaluation, improve case ascertainment for severe occupational injuries, and aid identification of high-risk populations and emerging trends.

Trends in the Disproportionate Burden of Work-Related Traumatic Injuries Sustained by Latinos

“…Records were deduplicated and consolidated as reported in an earlier publication (because of transfers of care, many injuries were reported by more than one hospital). 8 When data for the same injury varied by report, we assumed that the most comprehensive trauma care hospital (ie, highest trauma designation level) provided the most reliable report, per the advice of WTR staff. For detailed information about the contents of each WTR field, the reader is referred to the WTR data dictionary.…”

“…The WTR is described in more detail in an earlier related publication. 8 The Department of Health designates trauma services as part of the comprehensive statewide emergency medical services and trauma care system. Mandatory reporting began in 1995, and trauma coverage gradually increased as the trauma system added new hospitals.…”

“…In a recent study 8 based on Washington State Trauma Registry (WTR) data, we noted that Latino workers were 2.6 times more likely than non-Latino workers to have a work-related traumatic injury reported to the WTR between 1998 and 2008 (accounting for Latino representation in the employed population). Upward trends in workrelated traumatic injury rates observed from 2003 through 2008 were steepest for Latinos.…”

“…Upward trends in workrelated traumatic injury rates observed from 2003 through 2008 were steepest for Latinos. 8 Trauma registries are well positioned to capture severe work-related traumatic injuries and may avoid some recognized reporting filters afflicting other data sources (eg, workers' compensation claims data, health care-based databases/surveys that rely on the payer data fields to identify work-related claims, or employer-based injury records/surveys), 14 specifically whether a workers' compensation claim was filed or accepted for a particular injury or whether an employer recognized and reported a particular injury as work related. The WTR, along with at least 20 other state trauma registries, includes an indicator of work relatedness (distinct from payer) that makes it possible to directly identify work-related trauma.…”

Developing Surveillance Methodology for Agricultural and Logging Injury in New Hampshire Using Electronic Administrative Data Sets

“…15,16 Forst et al, 17 Sears et al, 18,19 and Husberg et al 20 have described their occupational injury surveillance research using trauma registries in Illinois, Washington, and Alaska, respectively. Interestingly, Sears et al 19 found that 46.4% of work-related injuries indicated solely by external cause of injury codes (E-codes) occurred on the nonresidential area of a farm; therefore, using the E-code location may be the one of the most accurate methods to identify farm injuries.…”