Occupational injury surveillance of traumatic injuries in Illinois, using the Illinois trauma registry: 1995-2003

BACKGROUND: Trauma registries continue to be underutilized for surveillance, despite providing data on the most severe injuries with a level of detail not available in national data sets or workers' compensation files. METHODS: We evaluate trends and patterns of traumatic occupational injuries from the Illinois Trauma Registry (ITR). RESULTS: Between 1995 and 2003, 44.4 of every 100,000 Illinois workers (age-adjusted) suffered work-related, nonfatal traumatic injuries. The majority of workers suffering traumatic injuries were white males younger than 55 years old. Falls were the most common cause of injury, and fracture of the extremities was the most common type of injury experienced by Illinois workers. Approximately 8% of all workers required either partial or total ambulatory assistance at time of discharge. CONCLUSION: The ITR provides detailed and complete data regarding the most severe occupational injuries. CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE: In contrast to reports from national surveillance data sets, we do not observe a significant decline in occupational injuries between 1995 and 2003. Trauma registries should be used more frequently for surveillance programs, because they provide detailed and reliable data regarding the most severe occupational injuries not available in other data sets.