Health conditions of heavy vehicle drivers involved in a crash in Western Australia: a retrospective study using linked data
Issue addressed:This retrospective study investigated the health conditions of a cohort of heavy vehicle drivers involved in a crash in Western Australia.Methods: Hospital separation records of heavy vehicle drivers admitted to hospital as a result of a road crash between 1 January 1988 and 31 Decem...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Journal Article |
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Australian Health Promotion Association
2005
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| Online Access: | http://www.healthpromotion.org.au/journal/previous/2005_1/article7.php http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/12487 |
| Summary: | Issue addressed:This retrospective study investigated the health conditions of a cohort of heavy vehicle drivers involved in a crash in Western Australia.Methods: Hospital separation records of heavy vehicle drivers admitted to hospital as a result of a road crash between 1 January 1988 and 31 December 2000 in Western Australia were analysed. Heavy vehicle drivers involved in a crash were first identified using the Western Australian Road Injury Database before linking to their hospital records. All hospital admissions for each driver admitted to hospital for a crash at least once during the study period were subsequently retrieved from the Health Services Linked Database.Results: There were 146 heavy vehicle drivers in the cohort. A total of 964 distinct in-patient episodes (the collection of all hospital admissions for a single event) were recorded for these drivers, with a minimum of one and a maximum of 84 hospital in-patient episodes per driver. The mean number of in-patient episodes for each driver was seven (SD=8.44), including an in-patient episode for a heavy vehicle crash.Conclusion: The evidence presented for the cohort of heavy vehicle drivers hospitalised as a result of road crash confirms that these drivers are characterised with health conditions such as musculoskeletal problems and digestive disorders. |
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