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The characteristics and outcomes for patients presenting with unintentional domestic injuries to general practice
D McLeod1, M Kljakovic, D Bandaranayake
1General Practice Department, Wellington School of Medicine, Wellington South.
Aim:
To describe domestic unintentional injuries in three large, computerised general practices in the Wellington area.
Method:
Details of all domestic injuries were recorded from Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC) forms.
Results:
Initial consultations for domestic unintentional injuries counted for 29.4% of all injuries for which ACC forms were completed and represented 1.2% of all patient contacts. The very young and elderly presented more frequently with domestic unintentional injuries. The types of injury and the injury incident varied between age groups. Most (75%) of the injured patients were treated by the practices without referral.
Conclusion:
Most (96%) of the patients who presented with domestic unintentional injuries were registered patients of the practices. This relationship provides an important opportunity for general practitioners to advise patients about accident prevention. More research is needed to compare the presentation of domestic unintentional injuries in general practice and in hospitals with accidents in the community.