As a repeat of a survey carried out in 1986-1987, a telephone survey was conducted. More than 25,000 households, comprising over 67,000 persons, were questioned about any recent traffic, home and leisure, sports and occupational injuries. Expressed as a national number, a total of approximately three million accident victims required professional medical treatment in a 12 month period in 1992 and 1993. By far the largest categories of injuries were home and leisure injuries and sports injuries (1.6 million and 1.1 million respectively), followed by traffic injuries (340,000) and occupational injuries (230,000). Approximately 59,000 victims were admitted to hospital, 830,000 were treated in an accident and emergency department/out-patient clinic and 2 million visited a general practioner. Based on the proportion of hospital admissions and fractures, traffic injuries are considered the most severe type of accident. Compared with the results of 1986-1987, the total number of accident victims (except occupational injuries) increased by 11%. For traffic injuries this increase was 30% and for home and leisure injuries 16%. There was no significant change for sports injuries. In spite of preventive measures, the accident problem in The Netherlands is not decreasing. This means that preventive efforts should at least be maintained at the present level. (A)
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