The injury trajectory for young people 16–24 years in the six months following injury: A mixed methods study Rebekah Ogilvie a, *, Kim Foster b , Andrea McCloughen c , Kate Curtis d a Shock Trauma Service at the Canberra Hospital, Building 6, Level 1, The Canberra Hospital, Yamba Drive, Garran ACT 2605, T-6244 2793, Sydney Nursing School, University of Sydney, Australia b Disciplines of Nursing & Midwifery, University of Canberra, Australia c Sydney Nursing School, University of Sydney, Australia d Sydney Nursing School, University of Sydney, Trauma Coordinator, St. George Hospital, Sydney, Australia A R T I C L E I N F O Keywords: Young people Outcomes Injury trajectory Mixed methods A B S T R A C T Background: Adolescents and young people are the population at greatest risk of injury and therefore injury-related mortality and morbidity. Inquiry into the injury trajectory of young people is needed to identify this group’s specific needs for healthcare. This paper reports the integration of quantitative and qualitative findings from a sequential explanatory mixed methods study examining young people aged 16-24 years’ experience and trajectory of traumatic physical injury in the initial six months. The aim of integration was to address the question: In what ways are injured young peoples’ experiences and self- management during the initial six months of the injury trajectory impacted by their injury, family support, and provision of healthcare? Methods: Key findings from epidemiological datasets on young person injuries from hospital and coronial databases (Phase 1) were combined with key findings from qualitative interviews with 12 injured young people and 10 family members (Phase 2). Results: The integration of findings from Phase 1 and Phase 2 resulted in three new findings; [1] (Alfred Health, 2014). A young person’s perception of the severity of their injury, as well as the amount of time spent in hospital, impacts substantially on the way in which they experience injury, and this is managed differently between genders; [2] (Newnam et al., 2014). Admission to an Intensive care unit, including the intensity and duration of care, is the primary influence on how a family will provide support to the young person in the inpatient period; and [3] (Lyons et al., 2010). Young people's perception and understanding of their recovery from injury is in contrast with how healthcare systems are structured to provide rehabilitation and recovery care. Conclusion: The injury trajectory and recovery process of young people in the six months following injury have been have conceptualised. These trajectories of recovery can inform the development of anticipatory guidance frameworks for clinicians and guide the provision of and planning for clinical services for injured young people. ã 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Background In Australia, in-hospital trauma mortality represents just 10% of the injury burden. The Australian Trauma Quality Improvement Program inaugural report which was released in 2014 shows that more than half of patients admitted to major trauma centres with major injury require intensive care services and once the acute phase of injury is resolved, almost 30% will require transfer to formal rehabilitation services [1]. Not all injury sequelae are permanently disabling, and the injury trajectory, or the path from initial injury to recovery from injury, is highly complex, comprising elements that span across individual, community and societal domains [2]. In an attempt to quantify the global burden of injury, the injury list of all deficits (LOAD) framework was developed in 2010, providing conceptualisation and categorisation of the multidimensional nature of the full injury burden [3]. However, the researchers explained that limitations in quantifying injury continue to exist due to the fact that injuries by nature are very heterogeneous, resulting in a wide range of individual functional outcome patterns. As the population at greatest risk of injury, long-term quantitative outcome studies in young people consistently * Corresponding author. E-mail address: rebekah.ogilvie@act.gov.au (R. Ogilvie). http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.injury.2016.04.037 0020-1383/ã 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Injury, Int. J. Care Injured 47 (2016) 1966–1974 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Injury journa l home page : www.e lsevier.com/loca te/injury