The impact of traffic injury on the use of health services has been estimated indirectly from a large population-based health survey in Ontario, Canada. All respondents reporting a disabling injury in the previous year (cases) have been compared to 'control' respondents of comparable age, sex and health region. Traffic crashes accounted for 29% of all cases reporting injury. Reported frequencies of contact with health workers (physicians, nurses, et cetera) and visits to hospital or emergency departments were higher for those injured than for controls; the accumulated increase is approximately 2.0 million visits to primary care physicians and 650,000 visits to specialists, with 44-56% of this extra use attributable to injuries in traffic crashes. Pedestrians, cyclists and vehicle occupants displayed different patterns of use; pedestrians used hospital and emergency services very heavily, and most services more heavily than other cases of traffic injury. These results suggest that the demands placed on many types of medical care providers after traffic crashes are both substantial and different from injuries in other circumstances.
Abstract