INTERNATIONAL COMPARISON OF REGIONAL TRAUMA REGISTRIES

Abstract

　　Background : A regional trauma registry (TR) collects injury data from multiple hospitals in a given region. The differences among TRs might provide useful information for improving or developing a TR.

　　Aim : To describe differences among TRs and investigate the effect of inclusion criteria on patient demographics.

　　Methods : I included national, state and multinational trauma registries for this study. I searched TRs by using the MEDLINE and an internet search engine. I abstracted funding sources, AIS versions, data submission methods, inclusion criteria and demographics of each TR. I compared the number of case registrations, the proportion of cases with an ISS>15 and a crude mortality rate of TRs that included “an ISS>15” or “an admission to ICU” in inclusion criteria with those of TRs that did not.

　　Results : I identified 17 TRs. Governmental funding, the AIS 98 and web-based data submission were the most common. The uses of “an ISS>15” and “an admission to ICU” significantly increased the proportion of cases with an ISS>15 and a crude mortality rate, respectively.

　　Conclusion : I identified the differences among TRs and the effects of inclusion criteria on patient demographics. These findings might be useful when improving or developing TRs.