https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6632-4778
![Sample our Social Sciences journals, sign in here to start your FREE access for 14 days]({"type":"image" , "src" : "/sda/110822/TOC-Subject-Sample-2021-Social-Sciences.jpg"})
Abstract
We obtained and linked data from the Illinois Department of Transportation and the Illinois Hospital Discharge Data System 2008 − 2015. We evaluated differences in demographic characteristics, injury severity and type among cases and examined associations among injury type, severity, and crash location. There were 11,303 injured pedestrians under 19 years of age and 46% matched to hospital data. Demographic characteristics were similar to unlinked cases. Among linked cases, fractures, traumatic brain injury, open wound or amputation, and internal organ injuries occurred more often in rural areas (p < 0.001), as were more severe injuries (p < 0.001). Mild injury and soft tissue injuries occurred more often in urban areas (p < 0.001). These data can inform targeted interventions for injury reduction. Preliminary investigations found that more severe injuries and specific injury types are more likely to occur in rural versus urban settings. Our combined database approach may be extended to other databases.
Acknowledgement
The study team acknowledges the Division of Emergency Medicine at Ann and Robert Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago for providing developmental support of this study, and the Illinois Department of Public Health for providing data.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
Data availability statement
Portions of the data that support the findings of this study are available from the Illinois Department of Transportation. Restrictions apply to the availability of these data, which were used under license for this study.