Objectives: To report the incidence, range of injury, medical consequences, and mortality of pedestrians in collisions with motor vehicles in Sweden.
Design: Retrospective case study.
Setting: The Swedish Hospital Discharge Register (SHDR).
Subjects: 8684 pedestrians in collisions with motor vehicles had a total of 12,036 episodes treated in Swedish hospitals from 1987-1994.
Interventions: Statistical analysis of the Register.
Main outcome measures: Incidence of pedestrians in collisions with motor vehicles in Sweden, mortality, range of injuries, and medical consequences.
Results: From 1987 to the end of 1994, a total of 8684 pedestrians were admitted to Swedish hospitals after collisions with motor vehicles. A mean of 17.6 persons were admitted/100,000 population/year. In all there were 12,036 admissions of injured pedestrians. There were 4593 men (53%) and 4091 women (47%), with a median age of 47 (range 1-100) years. The annual incidence of injured pedestrians (both men and women) decreased significantly during this period. Injuries to the extremities were commonest (39% fractures), followed by injuries to the head and neck (34%). The total number of deaths in our series of patients was 444 (5%). Of these, more than half had head injuries, 22% had fractures, and 5% abdominal or thoracic injuries.
Conclusion: The number of pedestrians in collisions with motor vehicles is low in Sweden. Injuries to the extremities were commonest, followed by injuries to the head and neck. Old people were most likely to be injured and 5% of the patients treated in hospital died.