One in three Israelis will be hospitalized with injury at some time in his life.
Of these, one in 29 will suffer a serious injury and one in 11 a road accident
injury. These 2000- 2009 statistics come from a startling report published by
the National Center for Trauma and Emergency Medicine Research presented on
Wednesday by Deputy Health Minister Ya’acov Litzman.
The report will be
used by decision-makers to set national health policy. In contrast to previous
reports, which included only 10 hospitals, the report reviewed data from 17
hospitals participating in the Trauma Registry, providing broader geographic and
demographic coverage.
All six “level-one” national trauma centers in the
major hospitals – Rambam, Hadassah Ein-Kerem, Soroka, Rabin Medical Center,
Sheba and Tel Aviv Sourasky – were included, along with the 11 leveltwo
centers.
The report includes the first indices of the risk of injury in
Israel.
The most common way of being hurt was by stabbing followed by
brawls. Teenage boys and young men, especially immigrants from Ethiopia and the
former Soviet Union, make up the vast majority of those injured by violence,
according to the report.
However, the data also show a dramatic decline
in the mortality rate among the severely injured in Israel. Beginning with age
65, trauma-related hospitalization rate significantly increases, especially from
fall injuries.
Among young people aged 10 to 19, the risk of injury
hospitalization is four times greater for males compared to females. The risk
for injury is three times greater for males than females ages 20 to
24.
Young people aged 15 to 29 are at relatively higher risk to be
hospitalized for road accident and injuries due to domestic violence, terror
attacks and other forms of violence.
The elderly, particularly those aged
80 to 84, have a relatively high risk of hospitalization due to road accident
injuries as well, half of which are pedestrian injuries, the report states.