Persistent medical problems and permanent impairment: injuries associated with work, vehicles, and sports

Among injuries treated in one year at the University Hospital in Umeå, Sweden, work- and sports-related accidents caused 16% each and vehicle-related accidents caused 12% of all injuries treated. Most fatalities and severe injuries were associated with vehicles. The proportion of victims with permanent medical impairment was highest among vehicle- and work-related injuries-6%. The proportion of persons who reported some form of persistent medical problem five years after the accident was similar in the three groups--between 21% and 24%. Among those injured in work- and vehicle-related accidents, one percent had been retired early or were on long-term sick leave. In all three groups, between 1% and 3% had changed jobs because of the injury, and between 3% and 6% had changed their leisure time activities to a large degree. Twelve percent of the work-related injuries and 8% of the vehicle-related injuries, but only 3% of the sports-related injuries, were claimed under some sort of insurance scheme. Pain was the most common persistent medical problem. Pain, together with serious brain and spinal injuries, is rather poorly defined in the impairment classification presently used by Swedish insurers to determine degree of permanent medical impairment. Improved and clarified criteria would be of great value.