Inequalities in hospitalized unintentional injury between aboriginal and non-aboriginal children in New South Wales, Australia

H. Möller, K. Falster, R. Ivers, M. Falster, D. Randall, K. Clapham and L. Jorm

American Journal of Public Health, 2016, vol. 106, issue 5, 899-905

Abstract: Objectives. To quantify inequalities in rates of unintentional injury-related hospitalizations between Australian Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal children. Methods. We used linked hospital and mortality data to construct a retrospective whole-of-population birth cohort including 1 124 717 children born in the state of New South Wales, Australia, between July 1, 2000 and December 31, 2012. We adjusted hazard ratios (HRs) of first injury hospitalization for geographic clustering and individual and area-level factors. Results. Aboriginal children were 1.6 times more likely than were non-Aboriginal children to be hospitalized for an unintentional injury. The largest inequalities were for poisoning (HR = 2.7; 95% CI = 2.4, 3.0) and injuries stemming from exposure to fire, flames, heat, and hot substances (HR = 2.4; 95% CI = 2.1, 2.7). Adjustment reduced the inequality for all unintentional injury overall (HR = 1.4; 95% CI = 1.3, 1.4) and within leading injury mechanisms. Conclusions. Australian Aboriginal children suffer a disproportionately high burden of unintentional injury.

Keywords: accident; adolescent; child; epidemiology; ethnology; female; health disparity; hospitalization; human; infant; injury; intoxication; male; New South Wales; newborn; Oceanic ancestry group; preschool child; proportional hazards model; retrospective study; risk factor; statistics and numerical data, Accidents; Adolescent; Child; Child, Preschool; Female; Health Status Disparities; Hospitalization; Humans; Infant; Infant, Newborn; Male; New South Wales; Oceanic Ancestry Group; Poisoning; Proportional Hazards Models; Retrospective Studies; Risk Factors; Wounds and Injuries (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:aph:ajpbhl:10.2105/ajph.2015.303022_9

DOI: 10.2105/AJPH.2015.303022

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