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Gearing PF, Nathan EA, Devine M, Chen J, Kumar R, Ramakrishnan A, Nastri A. E-Scooter facial fractures: A comparative cohort study. J Craniomaxillofac Surg 2024:S1010-5182(24)00204-X. [PMID: 38997870 DOI: 10.1016/j.jcms.2024.06.021] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/12/2023] [Revised: 01/06/2024] [Accepted: 06/11/2024] [Indexed: 07/14/2024] Open
Abstract
It was the aim of the study to analyze the distribution and pattern of facial fractures following e-scooter trauma. Prospective audit data of facial fractures were retrospectively collected to investigate the impact of e-scooter hire, specifically in the form of facial fractures associated with their use. Data collected included patient demographics, mode of injury, date of injury, facial bones involved, presence of soft tissue injury, and factors associated with injury, including intoxication and helmet use. A total of 849 patients were treated for facial fractures during the study period, of which 34 were attributed to e-scooter use. One-half of those injured riding e-scooters were intoxicated, and one-quarter were wearing helmets. There have been an increasing number of facial fractures associated with e-scooter use following the start of the shared e-scooter trial. Zygomaticomaxillary complex fractures were the most common pattern of facial fracture seen. Most patients required surgical management of their injuries. Policymakers should consider how to improve the enforcement of current regulations, given the healthcare cost associated with the management of these preventable injuries.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peter F Gearing
- Department of Surgery, The Royal Melbourne Hospital, Parkville, Victoria, Australia
| | - El-Atem Nathan
- Department of Surgery, The Royal Melbourne Hospital, Parkville, Victoria, Australia
| | - Maxim Devine
- Department of Surgery, The Royal Melbourne Hospital, Parkville, Victoria, Australia
| | - Jane Chen
- Department of Surgery, The Royal Melbourne Hospital, Parkville, Victoria, Australia
| | - Ricky Kumar
- Department of Surgery, The Royal Melbourne Hospital, Parkville, Victoria, Australia; Royal Children's Hospital Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia
| | - Anand Ramakrishnan
- Department of Surgery, The Royal Melbourne Hospital, Parkville, Victoria, Australia; The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia
| | - Alf Nastri
- Department of Surgery, The Royal Melbourne Hospital, Parkville, Victoria, Australia; The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia.
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Lim A. Post-lockdown burden of road injury involving hospitalisation in Victoria, Australia: A statewide, population-based time series analysis. Emerg Med Australas 2024. [PMID: 38684938 DOI: 10.1111/1742-6723.14422] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/14/2023] [Revised: 03/21/2024] [Accepted: 04/14/2024] [Indexed: 05/02/2024]
Abstract
OBJECTIVES Ever since COVID-19, short-term changes in transport injury patterns have been observed. The aim is to examine both the initial and the enduring impact of government lockdown and the pandemic on road injuries requiring hospitalisation and road fatalities. METHODS Time series analysis of Transport Accident Commission (TAC) claims involving hospitalisation and fatalities in Victoria, Australia, from July 2016 to May 2023, including lockdown (March 2020 to October 2020) and post-lockdown (November 2020 onwards). RESULTS A total of 46 450 TAC claims were included. Average claims during the pre-pandemic period were 652/month. Lockdown restrictions were associated with a statistically significant fall in monthly claims (-255, 95% confidence interval [CI] = -315 to -194, P < 0.01). This was consistent across road users, days of the week, hours of the day, injury severity, sex and central versus rural locations. The post-lockdown period had a statistically significant reduction in monthly claims to 76% (95% CI = 67-84) of pre-pandemic levels (-158, 95% CI = -213 to -102, P <0.01). This was consistent across all subgroups except bicyclist injuries, which remained constant (-8, 95% CI = -16 to 0, P = 0.05). There was a significant upward trend in the fatality-to-claim ratio post-lockdown (0.001, 95% CI = 0-0.001, P <0.01). CONCLUSION Road injury requiring hospitalisation decreased significantly during governmental lockdown and has returned to three-quarters of pre-pandemic levels (except bicyclist injuries that have remained constant), but there is an increasingly disproportionate number of fatalities. This represents a new baseline of injury burden for EDs and hospitals that manage trauma patients.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andy Lim
- Department of Emergency Medicine, Holmesglen Private Hospital, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
- School of Clinical Sciences at Monash Health, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
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Zhang B, Kang W, Xiong S, Huang X, Chen P, Huang J, Hou Y, Ma L, Xiang T. Changes in the epidemiological characteristics of prehospital emergency services before and during the COVID-19 pandemic, Chengdu, 2016-2021. Sci Rep 2023; 13:7796. [PMID: 37179377 PMCID: PMC10182747 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-34852-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/12/2022] [Accepted: 05/09/2023] [Indexed: 05/15/2023] Open
Abstract
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) brought a healthy crisis all around the world. It's not only affected healthcare utilization, but also some disease's incidence. We collected pre-hospital emergency data in Chengdu from January 2016 to December 2021, and studied the demand for emergency medical services (EMSs), emergency response times (ERTs), and the disease spectrum in the city proper of Chengdu as a whole. A total of 1,122,294 prehospital emergency medical service (EMS) instances met the inclusion criteria. Under the influence of COVID-19, notably in 2020, the epidemiological characteristics of prehospital emergency services in Chengdu were considerably altered. However, as the pandemic was brought under control, they returned to normal or even earlier in 2021.The COVID-19 pandemic had an effect on people's medical care-seeking behavior and the performance of prehospital emergency services. Although the indicators associated with prehospital emergency services eventually recovered as the epidemic was brought under control, they remained marginally different from before the outbreak.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bihua Zhang
- Institute of Biomedical Engineering, College of Medicine, Southwest Jiaotong University, Chengdu, China
- Department of Emergency, The Affiliated Hospital of Southwest Jiaotong University, The Third People's Hospital of Chengdu, No. 82 Qinglong Street, Chengdu, Sichuan, China
| | - Wenchao Kang
- Chengdu Medical Emergency Center, Chengdu, China
| | - Shiqiang Xiong
- Department of Cardiology, The Affiliated Hospital of Southwest Jiaotong University, The Third People's Hospital of Chengdu, Chengdu, China
| | - Xia Huang
- Chengdu Medical Emergency Center, Chengdu, China
| | - Pei Chen
- Chengdu Medical Emergency Center, Chengdu, China
| | - Jinmin Huang
- Chengdu Medical Emergency Center, Chengdu, China
| | - Yufei Hou
- Chengdu Medical Emergency Center, Chengdu, China
| | - Lin Ma
- Chengdu Medical Emergency Center, Chengdu, China
| | - Tao Xiang
- Department of Emergency, The Affiliated Hospital of Southwest Jiaotong University, The Third People's Hospital of Chengdu, No. 82 Qinglong Street, Chengdu, Sichuan, China.
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Soltani A, Azmoodeh M, Roohani Qadikolaei M. Road crashes in Adelaide metropolitan region, the consequences of COVID-19. JOURNAL OF TRANSPORT & HEALTH 2023; 30:101581. [PMID: 36778534 PMCID: PMC9894777 DOI: 10.1016/j.jth.2023.101581] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/19/2022] [Revised: 11/28/2022] [Accepted: 01/31/2023] [Indexed: 06/04/2023]
Abstract
Background Many countries instituted lockdown rules as the COVID-19 pandemic progressed, however, the effects of COVID-19 on transportation safety vary widely across countries and regions. In several situations, it has been shown that although the COVID-19 closure has decreased average traffic flow, it has also led to an increase in speeding, which will indeed increase the severity of crashes and the number of fatalities and serious injuries. Methods At the local level, Generalized linear Mixed (GLM) modelling is used to look at how often road crashes changed in the Adelaide metropolitan area before and after the COVID-19 pandemic. The Geographically Weighted Generalized Linear Model (GWGLM) is also used to explore how the association between the number of crashes and the factors that explain them varies across census blocks. Using both no-spatial and spatial models, the effects of urban structure elements like land use mix, road network design, distance to CBD, and proximity to public transit on the frequency of crashes at the local level were studied. Results This research showed that lockdown orders led to a mild reduction (approximately 7%) in crash frequency. However, this decrease, which has occurred mostly during the first three months of the lockdown, has not systematically alleviated traffic safety risks in the Greater Adelaide Metropolitan Area. Crash hotspots shifted from areas adjacent to workplaces and education centres to green spaces and city fringes, while crash incidence periods switched from weekdays to weekends and winter to summer. Implications The outcomes of this research provided insights into the impact of shifting driving behaviour on safety during disorderly catastrophes such as COVID-19.
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Key Words
- ABS, Australian bureau of statistics
- Adelaide
- CBD, Central business district
- COVID-19
- COVID19, Coronavirus disease of 2019
- GLM
- GLM, Generalized linear model
- GWGLM
- GWGLM, Geographically weighted generalized linear model
- GWR, Geographically weighted regression
- Injury
- LGA, Local government area
- PDO, Property damage only
- RV, Response variable
- SA1, Statistical area level 1
- TAZ, Traffic analysis zone
- Traffic crash
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Affiliation(s)
- Ali Soltani
- Injury Studies, Flinders Health and Medical Research Institute, Bedford Park, SA, 5042, Australia
- UniSA Business, University of South Australia, North Terrace, Adelaide, SA, 5001, Australia
- Faculty of Art and Architecture, Shiraz University, Shiraz, Iran
| | - Mohammad Azmoodeh
- Department of Transportation and Highway, Babol Noshirvani University of Technology, Babol, Iran
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Young SG. Hidden Costs of the COVID-19 Pandemic Response. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH AND PUBLIC HEALTH 2023; 20:ijerph20085476. [PMID: 37107758 PMCID: PMC10138285 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph20085476] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/03/2023] [Accepted: 03/27/2023] [Indexed: 05/11/2023]
Abstract
"First, do no harm" [...].
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Affiliation(s)
- Sean G Young
- Peter O'Donnell Jr. School of Public Health, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX 75235, USA
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Lystad RP, Fyffe A, Orr R, Browne G. Changes in Paediatric Injury-Related Emergency Department Presentations during the COVID-19 Pandemic. TRAUMA CARE 2023. [DOI: 10.3390/traumacare3020006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/05/2023] Open
Abstract
This study aimed to quantify changes in paediatric injury-related Emergency Department (ED) presentations at a large metropolitan paediatric hospital during the first two years of the COVID-19 pandemic (i.e., 2020 and 2021). This retrospective cohort study included children aged ≤15 years who presented to the ED at the Children’s Hospital at Westmead, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, with a principal diagnosis of injury during 1 January 2010 to 31 December 2021. Annual and monthly incidence of paediatric injury-related ED presentations from 2010 to 2019 were used to fit autoregressive integrated moving average models, from which forecast estimates with 95% prediction intervals were derived and compared against corresponding observed values to obtain estimates of absolute and relative forecast errors. The distributions of injuries by injury severity in 2020 and 2021 were compared against the 2010–2019 reference period. The annual incidence of paediatric injury-related ED presentations was 7.6% and 4.7% lower than forecasted in 2020 and 2021, respectively, equating to an estimated total of 1683 fewer paediatric injury-related ED presentations during the two-year period. The largest reductions in monthly incidence of paediatric injury-related ED presentations were observed during the periods of major societal restrictions (i.e., March–May 2020 and July–October 2021). Significant reductions in monthly incidence of injury-related ED presentations were observed for minor injuries only, with no discernable reductions in moderate and serious injuries. These findings highlight the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on paediatric injury-related ED presentations and the need for future epidemiological studies examining secular trends in paediatric trauma volumes to account for the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Affiliation(s)
- Reidar P. Lystad
- Australian Institute of Health Innovation, Macquarie University, Sydney 2109, Australia
| | - Andrew Fyffe
- Children’s Hospital Institute of Sports Medicine, The Children’s Hospital at Westmead, Sydney 2145, Australia
- Discipline of Exercise and Sport Science, Faculty of Medicine and Health, The University of Sydney, Sydney 2006, Australia
| | - Rhonda Orr
- Children’s Hospital Institute of Sports Medicine, The Children’s Hospital at Westmead, Sydney 2145, Australia
- Discipline of Exercise and Sport Science, Faculty of Medicine and Health, The University of Sydney, Sydney 2006, Australia
| | - Gary Browne
- Children’s Hospital Institute of Sports Medicine, The Children’s Hospital at Westmead, Sydney 2145, Australia
- Discipline of Child and Adolescent Health, Sydney Medical School, The University of Sydney, Sydney 2006, Australia
- Emergency Department, The Children’s Hospital at Westmead, Sydney 2145, Australia
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Comparing and Contrasting the Impacts of Macro-Level Factors on Crash Duration and Frequency. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH AND PUBLIC HEALTH 2022; 19:ijerph19095726. [PMID: 35565121 PMCID: PMC9105438 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph19095726] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/28/2022] [Revised: 05/01/2022] [Accepted: 05/05/2022] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
Road traffic crashes cause social, economic, physical and emotional losses. They also reduce operating speed and road capacity and increase delays, unreliability, and productivity losses. Previous crash duration research has concentrated on individual crashes, with the contributing elements extracted directly from the incident description and records. As a result, the explanatory variables were more regional, and the effects of broader macro-level factors were not investigated. This is in contrast to crash frequency studies, which normally collect explanatory factors at a macro-level. This study explores the impact of various factors and the consistency of their effects on vehicle crash duration and frequency at a macro-level. Along with the demographic, vehicle utilisation, environmental, and responder variables, street network features such as connectedness, density, and hierarchy were added as covariates. The dataset contains over 95,000 vehicle crash records over 4.5 years in Greater Sydney, Australia. Following a dimension reduction of independent variables, a hazard-based model was estimated for crash duration, and a Negative Binomial model was estimated for frequency. Unobserved heterogeneity was accounted for by latent class models for both duration and frequency. Income, driver experience and exposure are considered to have both positive and negative impacts on duration. Crash duration is shorter in regions with a dense road network, but crash frequency is higher. Highly connected networks, on the other hand, are associated with longer length but lower frequency.
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Impact of COVID-19 Lockdown on Wildlife-Vehicle Collisions in NW of Spain. SUSTAINABILITY 2022. [DOI: 10.3390/su14084849] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/25/2023]
Abstract
Wildlife–vehicle collisions (WVCs) in many places have a significant impact on wildlife management and road safety. The COVID-19 lockdown enabled the study of the specific impact that traffic has on these events. WVC variation in the Asturias and Cantabria regions (NW of Spain) because of the COVID-19 lockdown reached a maximum reduction of −64.77% during strict confinement but it was minimal or nonexistent during “soft” confinement. The global average value was −30.22% compared with the WVCs registered in the same period in 2019, but only −4.69% considering the average throughout the period 2010–2019. There are huge differences between conventional roads, where the traffic reduction was greater, and highways, where the traffic reduction was lesser during the COVID-19 lockdown. The results depend on the season, the day of the week and the time of day, but mainly on the traffic reduction occurring. The results obtained highlight the need to include the traffic factor in WVC reduction strategies.
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Analysis of the Impact of the COVID-19 Crisis on the Hungarian Employees. SUSTAINABILITY 2022. [DOI: 10.3390/su14041990] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Abstract
The economic crisis in the wake of the coronavirus epidemic is affecting the lives, jobs and incomes of a lot of people. Certain sectors of the economy have come to a standstill or stalled for a time, causing many to lose their jobs and be forced to pursue other career options than originally planned. The COVID-19 pandemic caused a deep economic crisis that caused workers to feel insecure, which also had a negative impact on the lives and characteristics of individuals at work. In the course of our research, we conducted a survey of employees in small and medium-sized enterprises in Hungary in order to find out how the coronavirus crisis affected them. In Hungary, the sectors most affected by the epidemic (e.g., hospitality, tourism, automotive) had an intense impact, as the consequences of restrictions on mobility and social distance emerged in the very early stages of the crisis. The survey was conducted in July 2021 after the end of the second wave of the epidemic, with a total of 613 participants. Our results confirmed that the coronavirus crisis had a significant impact on the respondents’ feelings of job insecurity and financial situation. There is a significant connection between the downsizing of Hungarian small and medium-sized enterprises and the feeling of job insecurity among employees. There was also a significant link between the organizational measures taken against the crisis and the financial situation of the employees. Thus, based on the results obtained, it can be concluded that the coronavirus crisis has had a negative impact on the lives of individuals through the workplaces.
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Miller AC. What's new in critical illness and injury science? Driving characteristics and rates of road traffic accidents and associated serious injuries and fatalities during the COVID-19 pandemic. Int J Crit Illn Inj Sci 2021; 11:189-190. [PMID: 35070906 PMCID: PMC8725803 DOI: 10.4103/ijciis.ijciis_106_21] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/06/2021] [Accepted: 12/06/2021] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Andrew C. Miller
- Department of Emergency Medicine, Alton Memorial Hospital, Alton, IL, USA,Address for correspondence: Dr. Andrew C. Miller, Department of Emergency Medicine, Alton Memorial Hospital, 1 Memorial Dr, Alton, IL 62002, USA. E-mail:
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Miller A. What's new in critical illness and injury science? Driving characteristics and rates of road traffic accidents and associated serious injuries and fatalities during the COVID-19 pandemic. Int J Crit Illn Inj Sci 2021. [DOI: 10.4103/2229-5151.332863] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/04/2022] Open
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