Cervical injuries in Sweden,a national survey of patient data from 1987 to 1999

Neck injuries are one of the most important injuries as they have the potential to influence the spinal cord. Data from most parts of the world are not sufficient to define a comprehensive view of mortality, morbidity, disability and handicap due to neck injuries. In Sweden, there are no data on the incidence of neck injuries. The aim of this study is to define the national incidence and causes of neck injuries in Sweden. An incidence study was undertaken with data from the injury surveillance program at the Swedish National Board of Health and Welfare. The investigation includes cervical vertebral fractures reported between 1987 and 1999, and cervical soft tissue injuries over a period of three years, from 1997 to 1999. Data between 1987 and 1996 were reported in ICD 9, while data from 1997 to 1999 were reported in ICD 10. During the study period, 14,310 non-fatal and 782 fatal cervical injuries occurred. A decreasing incidence for cervical fractures can be seen for the Swedish population, except for the elderly that have a slight increase in incidence. The incidence for cervical soft tissue injuries is almost constant. Cervical fractures demand longer periods of hospitalization than the soft tissue injuries. Transportation-related cervical fractures have dropped since 1991, while soft tissue injuries increased slowly between 1997 and 1999. Fall accidents are now the largest external cause of cervical fractures, and the population above 65 years accounts for almost 50% of the fall accidents. The male population has a higher incidence of cervical fractures, disregarding age. It is concluded that safety programs for transportation-related injuries in Sweden have been successful, while fall accidents are still substantial. Much more can be done to prevent neck injuries; especially to reduce the number of transportation-related cervical soft tissue injuries and fall injuries in the elderly population.     

Injuries from Motorcycle- and Moped crashes in Sweden from 1987 to 1999

The objective of this paper is to study injuries from motorcycle and moped crashes in Sweden from 1987 to 1999. Databases at the National Board for Health and Welfare and codes from both ICD9 and ICD10 systems were used, including patterns of age, gender, E-code and type of injury. Length of hospital stay, type of injuries and trends over time was evaluated. To get a more detailed picture of the age distribution, type of vehicle used and number of killed, data from the Swedish National Road Administration were also used. In Sweden, 27,122 individuals received in-patient care due to motorcycle and moped injuries between 1987 and 1999. The motorcycle and moped injury rate was reduced in the second half of the studied period and so were the total days of treatment per year. Males had eight times the incidence of injuries compared to females. Riders under the age of 26 and in particular those at an age of 15 had the highest incidence rate. Head injuries were the most frequent diagnosis, followed by fractures to the lower limbs. Concussion was the most frequent head injury. Focal and diffuse brain injuries combined showed the same frequency as concussion. It is concluded that more preventative strategies must be presented before the injury rate can be reduced.     

The epidemiology of swimming pool injuries in The Netherlands

Objective: To study the frequency and distribution of swimming pool injuries in The Netherlands. Data and methods: We used data of the Dutch Injury Surveillance System, which collects national data on patients treated in a hospital emergency department anywhere in The Netherlands. This system is based on a sample of 16 hospitals, which is representative for the whole country. With the help of pooled data for the years 1995 and 1996, we estimated the annual frequency of swimming pool injuries treated in a hospital emergency department. We made a comparison with the epidemiology of sports injuries with respect to the observed distribution by age, gender, type of injury and injury severity. Results: The average annual number of people seeking treatment at an emergency department after a swimming pool accident is small compared with the average annual number of sports injuries. Almost half of the swimming pool injuries (45%) concern 5–14 year-old children, a much higher proportion than found in sports injuries (27%). In addition, the relative importance of head injuries is considerably higher in swimming pool injuries (35%) than in sports injuries (12%). Swimming pool injuries and sports injuries have equal proportions of patients who are subsequently admitted to hospital (3%). Conclusion: The epidemiology of swimming pool injuries is characterized by a high proportion of 5–14 year-old children and a high share of head injuries. Although the frequency of swimming pool injuries is low, preventive efforts should not be neglected.     

The Survival and Growth of New Establishments in Sweden, 1987-1995

The aim of the study is to examine the survival of new establishments and to identify factors affecting their survival probability and their employment growth.This study uses a unique data set on all new establishments that were created in Sweden 1987 and 1988, with the exception of the construction industry. The results show among others that:(i) new establishments face a high risk of closing down, (ii) the probability of establishment survival increases with the age and size of the establishment,(iii) variables that are assumed to measure access to resources (being a part of a multi-unit firm,and being new due to merger or dispersal) have a positive effect on survival, (iv) the number of employees at the start- up year has a negative effect on the employment growth, and (v) demographic and educational factors are important in explaining survival and growth.     

Neck injuries among the elderly in Sweden

Neck injuries are some of the most important injuries as they have the potential to influence the spinal cord. A previous national survey of neck injuries in Sweden revealed that injury incidence was increasing for the population over 65 years of age, although it was decreasing for the population as a whole. The aim of this study was therefore to further clarify the magnitude, severity, and external causes of neck injuries in the elderly people in Sweden. A national incidence study, with focus on the age group above 65 years, was undertaken with data from the injury surveillance program at the Swedish National Board of Health and Welfare. The investigation includes cervical vertebral fractures reported between 1987 and 1999, and cervical soft tissue injuries from 1997 to 1999. Data in the hospital discharge register were reported in ICD9 from 1987 to 1996, while data from 1997 to 1999 were reported in ICD10. During the study period 4168 cervical injuries occurred of which 341 were fatal. People above 65 years of age made up 17% of the population and sustained 30% of all cervical injuries and 43% of all fatal cervical injuries. Half of the cervical injuries were axis (C2) fractures. Lower vertebral fractures occurred in 16% of the cases and atlas (C1) fractures in 11%. The cervical soft tissue injuries amount to 19% of all injuries. Fall accidents account for the majority (71%) of the accidents. There is an increasing trend for fall accidents resulting in neck injuries. The male population has a higher incidence for neck fractures than females, disregarding the external cause of injury. The upper cervical injuries are the most common, have the longest hospital treatments, and seem to be caused mainly by low energy falls. Further research is needed to understand the mechanisms of these injuries and in this aspect engineering could contribute with valuable knowledge, through accident simulations with numerical models. The increasing incidence of fall injuries calls for further preventive actions. The public sector should implement preventive strategies to reduce the number of extrinsic accidents, while the health care sector should focus on preventing intrinsic accidents with individual actions for each patient.     

Paediatric head injuries treated in a children's emergency department from Cluj-Napoca,Romania

The aim of the study was to describe paediatric head injuries and identify factors that led to advanced care. Incident cases of head injuries that sought care from December 2008 to October 2010 at Children's Emergency Hospital Cluj-Napoca were evaluated. The main outcome was transfer or admission to advanced care. From a total of 3053 children treated for an injury, 1541 (50.4%) presented with head injury. A total of 960 (62.3%) of the children with a head injury required advanced care treatment. Young children were more likely to suffer a head injury than older children, but a higher proportion of older children required advanced care (70.3%). Children who suffered a head injury as a consequence of road traffic were almost five times more likely to require advanced care (OR: 4.97; 3.09-8.06) than being released. Our results suggest that data on injuries provide evidence-based information on the nature of injuries children are prone to, and what activity, type, and mechanism of injury impact Romanian children.     

Inflatable rescue boat-related injuries in Queensland surf lifesavers: the epidemiology - biomechanics interface

The objective was to describe the relationship between epidemiological and biomechanical factors in the causal pathway of inflatable rescue boat (IRB)-related injuries in Australian surf lifesavers; to develop epidemiological and biomechanical methodologies and measurement instruments that identify and measure the risk factors, for use in future epidemiological studies. Epidemiological and biomechanical models of injury causation were combined. Host, agent and environmental factors that influenced total available force for transfer to host were specified. Measurement instruments for each of the specified risk factors were developed. Instruments were piloted in a volunteer sample of surf lifesavers. Participant characteristics were recorded using demographic questionnaires; IRB operating techniques were recorded using a custom-made on-board camera (Grand RF-Guard) and images of operating techniques were coded by two independent observers. Ground reaction forces transmitted to the host through the lifesaver's feet at the time of wave impact were measured using a custom-built piezoelectric force platform. The demographic questionnaire was found practical; the on-board camera functioned successfully within the target environment. Agreement between independent coders of IRB operating technique images was significant (p < 0.001) with Kappa values ranging from 0.5 to 0.7. Biomechanical instruments performed successfully in the target environment. Peak biomechanical forces were 415.6N (left foot) and 252.9N (right foot). This study defines the relationship between epidemiological and biomechanical factors in modifying the risk of IRB-related injury in a population of surf lifesavers. Preliminary feasibility of combining epidemiological and biomechanical information has been demonstrated. Further testing of the proposed model and measurement instruments is required.     

The epidemiology of non-fatal injuries among 11-, 13- and 15-year old youth in 11 countries: findings from the 1998 WHO-HBSC cross national survey

The primary objective was to present a cross-country comparison of injury rates, contexts and consequences. The research design was the analysis of data from the 1998 cross-national Health Behaviour in School-aged Children survey and 52955 schoolchildren from 11 countries, aged 11, 13 and 15 years, completed a self-administrated questionnaire. A total of 41.3% of all children were injured and needed medical treatment in the past 12 months. Injury rates among boys were higher than among girls, 13.3% reported activity loss due to injury and 6.9% reported severe injury consequences. Most injuries occurred at home and at a sport facility, mainly during sport activity. Fighting accounted for 4.1% of injuries. This paper presents the first cross-national comparison of injury rates and patterns by external cause and context. Findings present cross-country similarities in injury distribution by setting and activity. These findings emphasize the importance of the development of global prevention programmes designed to address injuries among youth.     

The performance of socially responsible equity mutual funds: Evidence from Sweden

This paper presents a comprehensive analysis of socially responsible (SR) funds in Sweden by assessing fund managers' abilities and performances across different market states. These issues are analyzed at the aggregate and individual fund levels. The paper also presents several new statistical tests that allow more precise inferences about differences in performance and the variability in fund returns arising from different benchmarks. In general, SR and conventional funds perform similarly to the market. At the aggregate level, SR funds investing in Sweden and Europe perform similarly to conventional funds, while those investing globally tend to underperform. This underperformance seems to be linked with poor selectivity abilities of global SR fund managers. For individual funds, the performance of both types of funds is more similar. Most funds perform similarly in crisis periods compared to non‐crisis periods. Overall, our results are consistent with a mature market for SR investing and support the view that the similar performance of SR and conventional funds is associated with the mainstreaming of SR investment in Sweden. These findings encourage SR investing both by socially conscious investors, who wish to align their social values with their investment decisions, as well as by conventional investors, who will not be penalized by investing in these funds. We also call attention to the difficulties investors face when trying to identify funds with high social standards, considering that there is scarce information on the extent to which each fund (SR or conventional) holds stocks that comply with ethical and social criteria.     

Simple technical trading rules of stock returns: evidence from 1987 to 1998 in Chile

This paper tests two of the simplest and most popular trading rules — moving average and trading range break-out — in the Chilean stock market. Overall, our results are similar to the ones of Brock et al. (1992), providing strong support for the technical strategies. In fact, buy signals consistently generate higher returns than sell signals. Moreover, returns following sell signals are negative, which is not easily explained by any of the currently existing equilibrium models. However, we do not observe any difference regarding the risk for the signs of buys and sells, a result explained by the fact that the Chilean stock market is highly concentrated and illiquid.     

The epidemiology of drowning worldwide

The purpose of this analysis was to quantify the magnitude of death and disability from drowning and near-drowning worldwide and to provide epidemiological data on which to base prevention efforts. All data are from the Global Burden of Disease 2000 (Version 1) estimates in which deaths and disabilities are based on the WHO International Classification of Diseases. Extrapolations were made by age, sex, and WHO region. The six WHO regions of the world were further divided into high-income, and low- and middle-income based on the 1998 World Development indicators. According to the GBD 2000 data, an estimated 449,000 people drowned worldwide (7.4 per 100,000 population) and a further 1.3 million Disability Adjusted Life Years (DALYs) were lost as a result of premature death or disability from drowning. 97% of drownings occurred in low- and middle-income countries. Although 38% of drownings occurred in the Western Pacific Region, Africa had the highest drowning mortality rate (13.1 per 100,000 population). Males had higher drowning mortality rates than females for all ages and in all regions. Children under the age of 5 years had the highest drowning mortality rate for both sexes in all of the WHO regions except for Africa, where children aged 5 to 14 years had the highest mortality rate. World-wide, for children under the age of 15 years, drowning accounted for a higher mortality rate than any other cause of injury. Drowning is a significant problem worldwide particularly for children under the age of 15 years. Low- and middle-income countries have the highest rates of drowning and account for more than 90% of such fatalities. Primary prevention efforts should thus be focused on these countries where many children who cannot swim drown in large bodies of water.     

中国城镇居民收入分布演进特征——基于非参数Kernel密度估计方法和省域区域视角

基于城镇居民人均可支配收入分组数据,运用非参数Kernel密度估计方法和MonteCarlo模拟技术,估计了1987—2008城镇居民收入分布及其演进特征。结果发现:(1)从全国城镇居民收入分布演进特征看,城镇居民收入不平等呈扩大趋势,基尼系数由0.17上升到0.33,增长近一倍,但没有观察到普遍和持久的两极分化现象(双峰分布);(2)在12个代表性省(区、直辖市)中,以经济发展模式(经济增长—收入分配)分类,广东属于平等发达型,湖南、四川、宁夏和广西属于不平等落后型,急需调整和转变增长方式;(3)从区域经济发展特征看,东部地区和东北地区收入增长较快,但收入不平等现象十分严重,中部地区和西部地区收入增长相对较慢,不平等现象相对轻微。     

Prevention of death and disability from injuries to children and adolescents

One million children and adolescents die each year from injuries and many-fold more suffer long-term disability. While there have been substantial reductions in injury mortality over the last 50 years, further decreases in morbidity and mortality will require consideration of additional factors. This article discusses five different components to further reduce the injury burden: consideration of the epidemiologic transition occurring in both high-income as well as low- and middle-income countries; expanding the concept of injury prevention to that of injury control, with substantial emphasis on acute care and rehabilitation of the injured child; inclusion of adolescents in paediatric injury control; improving the quality of research conducted; and changing the way priorities are determined in the injury field.     

Trauma epidemiology in Puerto Rico: in-hospital morbidity and mortality from 2002 to 2011

This study aimed to describe the distribution of injury mechanisms and to assess the impact of those mechanisms on the morbidity and mortality of trauma. All patients admitted to Puerto Rico Trauma Hospital (2002–2011) for road-traffic collisions (RTCs, 5,371), gunshot wounds (GSWs, 2,946), falls (2,319), pedestrian accidents (1,652), and stab wounds (SWs, 1,073) were selected. Gunshot victims were 1.19 (95%CI: 1.07–1.33) times as likely as road-traffic victims to have an ISS ≥25. Pedestrians were 1.76 (95%CI: 1.49–2.09) times more likely to have a GCS ≤8 than road-traffic victims were. The risk of dying was 2.64 (95%CI: 2.20–3.16) times higher for gunshot victims and 1.51 (95%CI: 1.23–1.86) times higher for pedestrians compared to patients who had had RTCs. Gunshot victims and pedestrians had the worst clinical outcomes. Accordingly, these patients should receive the most aggressive clinical management. Furthermore, it is imperative to develop public health campaigns on trauma prevention.     

Introduction to Institutions,Entrepreneurship and Firm Growth: The Case of Sweden

Small Business Economics -