Temporal and regional trends in fatal childhood injuries in Norway 1971

Abstract

The paper focuses on how mortality due to injuries among Norwegian children has varied over time and throughout the country over the last two decades. The temporal trends are compared to those of the other Nordic countries. Individual data on date of birth and death, county of residence at death, sex and cause of death were obtained from the Norwegian Death Registry on all children aged 0–14 who died during the time-span 1971–1989. Denominators were the number of persons alive in the corresponding age, year, sex and county groups. There has been a decline in fatal injuries from 25 to 9 deaths per 100000 person-years in, respectively, 1971 and 1989. The decline is less distinct in the late 1980's. The rate of fatal injuries have throughout the period been lowest in the county of Oslo and highest in Northern Norway with fatal injury rates in Finnmark 3 times that of Oslo. The declining time trend was present for all types of injuries except bicyclists and passengers, but with the sharpest decline for pedestrians and drowning injuries. The regional variation was strongest for drowning and showed a different profile from the overall pattern for bicyclists, passengers and falling injuries. The incidence of fatal injuries in Norway is comparable to those of Denmark, Finland and Iceland, but considerably higher than in Sweden. In all Nordic countries the rates have declined to about one third from 1971 to 1988.

Keywords

Childhood injuries mortality regional differences time trends

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

1. Marcusson, H. , Ochmisch, W. , Accident mortality in childhood in selected countries of different continents, 1950–1971. World Health Statistics Report, 1977; 30: 57–92.

2. Berfenstam, R. , Declining injury numbers show that prevention programs pay off. Lakartidningen, 1989; 86: 240–2 (In Swedish).

3. Taket, A. , Accident mortality in children, adolescents and adult. World Health Stat Q, 1986; 39: 232–56.

4. Waller, A. E. , Baker, S. P. , Szocka, A. , Childhood injury deaths: National analysis and geographical variations. Am J Public Health, 1989; 79: 310–5.

5. Avery, J. G. , Vaudin, J. N. , Fletcher, J. L. , Watson, J. M. , Geographical and social variations in mortality due to childhood accidents in England and Wales 1975–1984. Public Health, 1990; 104: 171–82.

6. MacWilliam, L. , Mao, Y. , Nicholls E , Wigle, D. T. , Fatal accidental childhood injuries in Canada. Can J Public Health, 1987; 78: 129–35.

7. Kahn, H. A. , Sempos, C. T. Statistical methods in epidemiology. New York: Oxford University Press, 1989.

8. Baker, R. J. , Nelder, J. A. The GLIM system. Release 3.77.

9. Rivara, F. P. , Traumatic deaths of children in the United States: Currently available prevention strategies. Pediatrics, 1985; 75: 456–62.

10.

10. Golding, J. Accidents. In: Butler NR , Golding J , eds. From birth to five. A study of the health and behaviour of Britain's five year olds. Oxford: Pergamon. 1986: 141–57.

11.

11. Berfenstam, R. Some views on the theory and practice in child accident prevention. In: Berfenstam R , Jackson H , Erikkson B , eds. The healthy community. Child safety as a part of health promotion activities. Folksam, 1987: 61–5.

12.

12. Lund, J. Experiences with the evaluation of local activities. In: Berfenstam R , Jackson H , Erikkson B , eds. The healthy community. Child safety as a part of health promotion activities. Folksam, 1987: 175–86.

13.

13. Haddon, W. A logical framework for categorizing highway safety phenomena and activity. J Trauma, 1972; 12: 193–207.

14.

14. Rivara, F. P. , Epidemiology of childhood injuries A review of current research and presentation of conceptual framework. Am J Dis Child, 1982; 136: 399–405.

Temporal and regional trends in fatal childhood injuries in Norway 1971–1989

Abstract

Keywords

Get full access to this article

References