Sixty-three motor vehicle crash patients transported to a university hospital emergency department via ambulance and also reported on an in-depth crash investigation record (CIR) were identified during January 1993 to December 1995. The accuracy of the police report (PR), ambulance report (AR) and emergency department record (EDR) for each patient was compared to the CIR by computing percent agreement and kappa for each data source. Fifty-one cases (81%) had at least one episode of discordance. The mean percent agreement for the variables studied was PR.929, AR.807, and EDR.897. Mean values for kappa were PR.889, AR.706, and EDR.846. The inaccuracy between data sources for determining motor vehicle crash determining motor vehicle crash characteristics varies. Injury control researchers need to consider how to increase accuracy for data sources.
Samenvatting