Accident Analysis and Prevention 40 (2008) 1406–1410 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Accident Analysis and Prevention journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/aap Using multiple datasets to understand trends in serious road traffic casualties Ronan A. Lyons a,∗ , Heather Ward b,2 , Huw Brunt c,3 , Steven Macey a,1 , Roselle Thoreau b,2 , O.G. Bodger a,1 , Maralyn Woodford d,4 a Centre for Health Information, Research and Evaluation (CHIRAL), School of Medicine, Swansea University, Singleton Park, Swansea SA2 8PP, United Kingdom b Centre for Transport Studies, University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, United Kingdom c National Public Health Service for Wales, Carmarthen, United Kingdom d University of Manchester, Eccles Old Road, Salford M6 8HD, United Kingdom article info Article history: Received 17 October 2007 Received in revised form 6 February 2008 Accepted 11 March 2008 Keywords: Road traffic Injury Trauma Datasets abstract Accurate information on the incidence of serious road traffic casualties is needed to plan and evaluate prevention strategies. Traditionally police reported collisions are the only data used. This study investi- gate the extent to which understanding of trends in serious road traffic injuries is aided by the use of multiple datasets. Health and police datasets covering all or part of Great Britain from 1996–2003 were analysed. There was a significantly decreasing trend in police reported serious casualties but not in the other datasets. Multiple data sources provide a more complete picture of road traffic casualty trends than any single dataset. Increasing availability of electronic health data with developments in anonymised data linkage should provide a better platform for monitoring trends in serious road traffic casualties. © 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Road traffic injuries are the ninth-leading cause of death in the world (World Health Organisation, 2002) and are predicted to become the third leading cause of death and disability worldwide by 2020 (Murray and Lopez, 1996). More than a million lives are lost as a result of such injuries around the world each year and millions more are injured or disabled as a result (Department of Injuries and Violence Prevention, 2002). In Great Britain (England, Wales and Scotland) alone, 3200 people are killed and another 29,000 seriously injured from the 200,000 collisions in which at least one person is injured that occur each year (Department for Transport, 2006). Road traffic injuries can affect all populations, regardless of age, sex, income, or geographic region (Krug et al., 2000) . The economic cost of the problem in Britain is in the region of £13 billion a year (Department for Transport, 2006). The wide- ranging impact of road injuries, and predictions for their incidence ∗ Corresponding author. Tel.: +44 1792 513484; fax: +44 1792 513430. E-mail addresses: r.a.lyons@swansea.ac.uk (R.A. Lyons), h.ward@ucl.ac.uk (H. Ward), huw.brunt@nphs.wales.nhs.uk (H. Brunt), s.m.macey@swansea.ac.uk (S. Macey), ucesrth@ucl.ac.uk (R. Thoreau), maralyn.woodford@tarn.ac.uk (M. Woodford). 1 Tel.: +44 1792 513484; fax: +44 1792 513430. 2 Tel.: +44 20 7679 1564; fax: +44 20 7679 1567. 3 Tel.: +44 1267 225033. 4 Tel.: +44 161 206 4397; fax: +44 161 206 4345. to increase, makes the issue a significant public health chal- lenge. Good quality, accurate and reliable data which are consistently collected over time are needed to inform our understanding of factors affecting the occurrence of road traffic accidents and the injuries to casualties arising from them. Traditionally, analysis has relied on a single dataset collected by the police, which in Great Britain is known as STATS19. It is known that not all casualties aris- ing from road traffic collisions are reported to the police so use of STATS19 on its own is unlikely to provide an accurate reflection of the true risk of being injured on the roads. Some work has been undertaken previously to explore this issue using different sources of data, but that research has been restricted to using one addi- tional dataset selected from a limited number of datasets (Gill et al., 2006; Stephenson et al., 2005; Tunbridge et al., 1988; Bull and Roberts, 1973; Hobbs et al., 1979; Mills, 1989; Nicholl, 1980; Pedder et al., 1981; Saunders and Wheeler, 1987; Simpson, 1996; Haynes et al., 2005). Given these limitations, the use of multiple data sources, should in theory, improve measurement of trends in serious road traffic injuries. Such information needs to be readily available to help monitor changes in road traffic injury epidemiology, identify any associated wider public health impacts, assess the effectiveness of interventions and track progress against national road safety tar- gets. Our study aims to investigate the extent to which our under- standing of trends in serious road traffic injuries is aided by the use of multiple datasets. 0001-4575/$ – see front matter © 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.aap.2008.03.011