A model for registration and mapping of accident cases in health care

Accidents occur in all social environments and constitute also in Sweden an important causal morbidity and mortality factor. The official accident statistics are in several respects deficient and do not describe injuries in necessary detail for enabling preventive measures to be taken, especially not on the local community level. Since 1 January 1978 a continuous registration of all emergency visits in primary as well as secondary medical care has been pursued in a test and control area in Skaraborg county in Western Sweden. The registration system enables a mapping-out and in-depth studies of accidents in order to provide basic information for preventive measures at local level, i.e. community intervention. The all-age-injury reporting system used in this connection is described in the article.