Auto accidents account for half of major injuries in Canada

A new report from the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) notes that almost half of all major injuries sustained in 2001-2002, 47%, were the result of motor vehicle accidents. And men bore the brunt, accounting for 67% of all severe injuries due to motor vehicle collisions.For people under 20, 54% of major trauma was due to motor vehicle accidents, followed by falls accounting for 16%. This is the reverse of figures for seniors, with 62% of major injuries to those 65 and older coming from falls, with auto accidents accounting for 30%. But motor vehicles accidents remained the most significant cause of major injury to those in the 20-34 and 35-64 year old demographics.Major trauma accounts for about 3-5% of all hospital admission due to injury. “These injuries are important because they are highly preventable and they place a significant, and often lasting, burden on patients and their families,” says Greg Webster, manager of clinical registries for the CIHI. For example, 14% of patients admitted for major trauma died, and of surviving patients, only 41% went home independently the rest received home care or were transferred to long-term care facilities.