One in 3 Israelis at risk of injury needing hospitalization

One in 11 to be involved in traffic accident, trauma center report finds.

By JUDY SIEGEL-ITZKOVICH
Magen David Adom ambulances 311 (photo credit: Reuters)
Magen David Adom ambulances 311
(photo credit: Reuters)
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.