Deaths caused by injury among people of working age (18–64) are decreasing, while those among older people (64+) are increasing

BACKGROUND: Injury is an important cause of death in all age groups worldwide, and contributes to many losses of human and economic resources. Currently, we know a few data about mortality from injury, particularly among the working population. The aim of the present study was to examine death from injury over a period of 14 years (1999–2012) using the Swedish Cause of Death Registry (CDR) and the National Patient Registry, which have complete national coverage. METHOD: CDR was used to identify injury-related deaths among adults (18 years or over) during the years 1999–2012. ICD-10 diagnoses from V01 to X39 were included. The significance of changes over time was analyzed by linear regression. RESULTS: The incidence of prehospital death decreased significantly (coefficient −0.22, r (2) = 0.30; p = 0.041) during the study period, while that of deaths in hospital increased significantly (coefficient 0.20, r (2) = 0.75; p < 0.001). Mortality/100,000 person-years in the working age group (18–64 years) decreased significantly (coefficient −0.40, r (2) = 0.37; p = 0.020), mainly as a result of decrease in traffic-related deaths (coefficient −0.34, r (2) = 0.85; p < 0.001). The incidence of deaths from injury among elderly (65 years and older) patients increased because of the increase in falls (coefficient 1.71, r (2) = 0.84; p < 0.001) and poisoning (coefficient 0.13, r (2) = 0.69; p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: The epidemiology of injury in Sweden has changed during recent years in that mortality from injury has declined in the working age group and increased among those people 64 years old and over.