In 2011, accidents (unintentional injuries) were
the fifth most likely cause of death for US citizens, being noted as having
been the cause of death for 122,777 people. A study from the Australian Bureau
of Statistics found that accidents and injuries are most likely to occur in the
home, with 30 percent of all injuries occurring within the injured individual’s
own property. An OECD report, Occupational
Accidents in OECD countries, found that international variations in numbers
of accidents occurring in the workplace were fairly minimal, and Australia is
on a par with the US. This article will proceed on that premise.
The same study found that only 16 percent of
people then went to a doctor, a figure that was higher for those in possession
of private health care insurance.
Though only 5 percent of injured individuals – around a third of those who
visited a doctor – required attention in hospital, the US Department of Health
and Human Services’ Injury in the United
States: 2007 Chartbook found that a third of all visits to emergency
departments were due to injuries. It is therefore worth considering hospital cover
if for no other reason than this.
Falls were by far and away the most likely cause
of injury in the home, accounting for the vast majority of accidents. In the UK
records of Deaths registered to Government in England and Wales, 2010, around
20 percent of all falls were from steps or stairs, although the vast majority
of falls were ‘unspecified’ (some 78 percent). Participants in the 2005 meeting
of the International Collaborative Effort on Injury Statistics found that
Australian over-65s were around half as likely to injure themselves by falling
than American over-65s.
A surprisingly small number of deaths in that
same study were attributed to ‘exposure to smoke, fire and flames’. The cause
of death – whose official label is ‘X00-X09’ – counted for a relatively low 237
deaths in the UK in 2011. This is in comparison to over 1,500 deaths as a
result of poisoning and exposure to noxious substances. Similarly small was the
number of deaths in the UK attributed to ‘lack of food’, with only 6 recorded
incidents of starvation.
The US study demonstrated that between the ages
of 70 and 85, deaths due to unintentional accidents rise by 600 percent to
seven times the figure of 40 deaths per 100,000 population for 69-year-olds. Poisoning
is also up from the 1985 genesis of the US study, having doubled as a cause of
death among US citizens over 25 years. Falls have also steadily increased,
although incidents involving firearms are down from a high of 15 deaths per
100,000 in 1995 to 10 deaths per 100,000 in 2006.
In the Australian workplace, things are quite
different. Almost three quarters of accident and injury claimants are male,
with manufacturing and construction taking most of the hit. Women were more
likely to injure themselves working in the retail or communication sectors.#
All studies conclude that accidents are an
expected part of daily life – but are almost entirely preventable. Despite
this, they continue to account for around 8 percent of total healthcare
spending worldwide.
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