Occupational injury trends derived from trauma registry and hospital discharge records: lessons for surveillance and research

OBJECTIVE: The suitability of the Washington State Trauma Registry (WTR) for occupational injury surveillance was assessed via comparing estimated rates and trends with those derived from state hospital discharge data. METHODS: Descriptive methods and negative binomial regression were used to model occupational injury trends (1998 to 2009). RESULTS: Nonlinear trends based on WTR data closely tracked those based on hospital discharge data, beginning about 2002. Rate estimates differed somewhat by data source and were most similar when a severity threshold was applied. Conclusions regarding temporal trends in work-related injury rates were the same using either data source. CONCLUSIONS: This study found substantial similarity between occupational injury trends estimated using either WTR or hospital discharge data. We conclude that a mature state trauma registry with mandatory reporting requirements can be used for surveillance of severe work-related traumatic injuries