[Description of home accidents in Piedmont based on current information sources]

To analyse data from existing sources to assess the distribution over space and time of home accidents in Piedmont.

Analysis of distribution of causes of hospitalisation and deaths following a home accident.

For non-fatal accidents, we reviewed the database of hospital discharge records (HDR), which includes data from all hospitals in the region. For fatal accidents, we reviewed the data on deaths provided by the Italian National Institute of Statistics (ISTAT).

All patients hospitalised for "home accidents" for the period 1999-2001 and deaths due to "external causes of injury and poisoning" and from these excluded transport accidents, homicides, and suicides for the period 1982-1999.

The most commonly reported reasons for hospitalisation following a home accident were: fracture for 15-64 year-old age-group and for persons aged 65 years or more (60.7% and 86% respectively) and intracranial transmatism for 0-14 year-old age group (33%). Regarding fatal accidents, the mortality rate per 100,000 was 3.6 among 0-14 year-olds, and 145.1 among the persons aged 65 years or more. The most common cause of death was chocking for 0-14 year-old age-group and falls for the person aged 65 years or more (32.2% and 86.3% respectively). There is an excess of mortality in the geographical areas of Western Alps of Piemonte.

In Piedmont, existing sources can be used to estimate the distribution of the most serious home accidents i.e., those resulting in hospitalisation or death. The sources we reviewed in this study are, at the moment, the only ones available to quantify and describe the phenomenon over space and time.