Improved and standardized method for assessing years lived with disability after injury
JA Haagsma, S Polinder, RA Lyons, J Lund, V Ditsuwan, M Prinsloo, JL Veerman & EF van Beeck
Volume 90, Number 7, July 2012, 513-521
Table 1. Mean disability weightsa (DW) and proportions of injuries with lifelong consequences
| Injury group | DW for acute phase |
Proportion with lifelong consequences (%) |
DW for lifelong consequences | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ED | HDR | ED | HDR | |||
| Concussion | 0.015 | 0.100 | 4 | 21 | 0.151 | |
| Other skull–brain injury | 0.090 | 0.241 | 13 | 23 | 0.323 | |
| Open wound on head | 0.013 | 0.209 | – | – | – | |
| Eye injury | 0.002 | 0.256 | 0 | 0 | – | |
| Fracture of facial bone(s) | 0.018 | 0.072 | – | – | – | |
| Open wound on face | 0.013 | 0.210 | – | – | – | |
| Fracture/dislocation/sprain/strain of vertebrae/spine | 0.133 | 0.258 | – | 0b | – | |
| Whiplash injury/sprain of cervical spine | 0.073 | ND | ND | ND | ND | |
| Spinal-cord injury | ND | 0.676 | ND | 100 | ND | |
| Internal-organ injury | 0.103 | 0.103 | – | – | – | |
| Fracture of rib/sternum | 0.075 | 0.225 | – | – | – | |
| Fracture of clavicula/scapula | 0.066 | 0.222 | 2 | 9 | 0.121 | |
| Fracture of upper arm | 0.115 | 0.230 | 17 | 10 | 0.147 | |
| Fracture of elbow/forearm | 0.031 | 0.145 | 0 | 8 | 0.074 | |
| Fracture of wrist | 0.069 | 0.143 | 0 | 18 | 0.215 | |
| Fracture of hand/fingers | 0.016 | 0.067 | 0 | 0 | 0.022 | |
| Dislocation/sprain/strain of shoulder/elbow | 0.084 | 0.169 | 0 | 18 | 0.136 | |
| Dislocation/sprain/strain of wrist/hand/fingers | 0.027 | 0.029 | 0 | 0b | – | |
| Injury to nerves of upper extremity | ND | ND | ND | 0b | – | |
| Complex soft-tissue injury of upper extremity | 0.081 | 0.190 | 3 | 15 | 0.166 | |
| Fracture of pelvis | 0.168 | 0.247 | 30 | 29 | 0.182 | |
| Fracture of hip | 0.136 | 0.423 | 14 | 52 | 0.172 | |
| Fracture of femur shaft | 0.129 | 0.280 | 46b | 35 | 0.169 | |
| Fracture of knee/lower leg | 0.049 | 0.289 | 23 | 34 | 0.275 | |
| Fracture of ankle | 0.096 | 0.203 | 12 | 35 | 0.248 | |
| Fracture of foot/toes | 0.014 | 0.174 | 8 | 39 | 0.259 | |
| Dislocation/sprain/strain of knee | 0.109 | 0.159 | 8 | 0b | 0.103 | |
| Dislocation/sprain/strain of ankle/foot | 0.026 | 0.151 | 4 | 26 | 0.125 | |
| Dislocation/sprain/strain of hip | 0.072 | 0.309 | 23 | 30 | 0.128 | |
| Injury to nerves of lower extremity | ND | ND | 0 | 0a | – | |
| Complex soft-tissue injury of lower extremity | 0.093 | 0.150 | 10 | 13 | 0.080 | |
| Superficial injury (including contusions) | 0.006 | 0.150 | – | – | – | |
| Open wound | 0.013 | 0.093 | – | – | – | |
| Mild burn(s)c | 0.055 | 0.191 | 0 | 0 | – | |
| Poisoning | 0.245 | 0.245 | 0 | 0 | – | |
| Multitrauma | ND | ND | ND | ND | ND | |
| Foreign body | 0.044 | 0.060 | – | – | – | |
| No injury after examination | – | – | – | – | – | |
| Other and unspecified injury | 0.111 | 0.212 | – | – | – | |
ED, cases recorded attending emergency department; HDR, cases recorded in hospital discharge registers; ND, not determined (because the relevant data were missing or too scarce).
a Varying from 0 for full health to 1 for worst possible health state.
b Value based on fewer than 10 cases.
c Patients with severe burns would have been treated at specialized burn units, which were not included in the study.