Prevent, curtail and mitigate ocular injuries: Proposal for designing an eye injury registry model for the Indian Armed Forces.

This article aims to propose a design for Eye Injury Registry (EIR) model for Indian Armed Forces, to make ophthalmologists and non-ophthalmologists aware about the existence as well as the usefulness of such a registry. This is a perspective study. The EIR model for Armed Forces was designed based on the relevant sources in PubMed, Scopus and Embase including registries of pioneering countries like United States and Canada. A questionnaire based on the model dimensions was developed (Cronbach's alpha>0.7) and filled by 04 senior ophthalmologists in Armed Forces, all of who had a significant experience in dealing with various types of ocular trauma, to give expert opinions, which were then applied to the proposed model to finalize it. In Armed Forces, a registry and reporting on eye injury along with a systematic collection of standard data on eye injuries will help ophthalmologists in the successful prevention. Such a registry and its large database once formed will permit elaborate epidemiologic investigations, highlighting preventable sources of injury, emerging patterns of trauma in our services, and the best possible treatment protocols to be adopted, for successful outcomes. EIR in Armed Forces can help in the collection of eye injury data, thereby improving the quality-of-care and expansion of prevention strategies for ocular injuries. It is a step to make a truly effective data bank, which will be instrumental in combating such preventable ocular injuries and in turn go a very long way in achieving the final goal of preventing up to 90% of such injuries.

Trauma care and capture rate of variables of World Health Organisation data set for injury at regional hospitals in Tanzania: first steps to a national trauma registry.

BACKGROUND: In Tanzania, there is no national trauma registry. The World Health Organization (WHO) has developed a data set for injury that specifies the variables necessary for documenting the burden of injury and patient-related clinical processes. As a first step in developing and implementing a national Trauma Registry, we determined how well hospitals currently capture the variables that are specified in the WHO injury set. METHODS: This was a prospective, observational cross-sectional study of all trauma patients conducted in the Emergency Units of five regional referral hospitals in Tanzania from February 2018 to July 2018. Research assistants observed the provision of clinical care in the EU for all patients, and documented performed assessment, clinical interventions and final disposition. Research assistants used a purposefully designed case report form to audit the injury variable capture rate, and to review Ministry of Health (MoH) issued facility Register book recording the documentation of variables. We present descriptive statistics for hospital characteristics, patient volume, facility infrastructure, and capture rate of trauma variables. RESULTS: During the study period, 2891 (9.3%) patients presented with trauma-related complaints, 70.7% were male. Overall, the capture rate of all variables was 33.6%. Documentation was most complete for demographics 71.6%, while initial clinical condition, and details of injury were documented in 20.5 and 20.8% respectively. There was no documentation for the care prior to Emergency Unit arrival in all hospitals. 1430 (49.5%) of all trauma-related visits seen were documented in the facility Health Management Information System register submitted to the MoH. Among the cases reported in the register book, the date of EU care was correctly documented in 77% cases, age 43.6%, diagnosis 66.7%, and outcome in 38.9% cases. Among the observed procedures, initial clinical condition (28.7%), interventions at Emergency Unit (52.1%), investigations (49.0%), and disposition (62.9%) were documented in the clinical charts. CONCLUSIONS: In the regional hospitals of Tanzania, there is inadequate documentation of the minimum trauma variables specified in the WHO injury data set. Reasons for this are unclear, but will need to be addressed in order to improve documentation to inform a national injury registry.

Development and assessment of a community follow-up questionnaire for the Rick Hansen spinal cord injury registry.

OBJECTIVE: To develop a comprehensive community follow-up questionnaire for participants enrolled in the Rick Hansen Spinal Cord Injury Registry (RHSCIR). DESIGN: Development and preliminary assessment of measurement properties (reliability and validity) of instruments used during a community follow-up and aligned with the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF). SETTING: General community setting. PARTICIPANTS: People with spinal cord injury (N=50) living in the community. INTERVENTION: Not applicable. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: A comprehensive follow-up questionnaire, referred to as the RHSCIR Community Follow-up Questionnaire Version 2.0 (CFQ-V2.0), includes 8 instruments. Four new instruments were developed, 2 existing instruments were modified, and 2 previously published instruments were included. RESULTS: Intra- and interrater reliability statistics (Gwet's AC1) support the measurement properties of the new and modified instruments. Correlations between new and existing instruments and between groups based on the severity of injury support the construct validity of the secondary complications and person-perceived participation instruments. CONCLUSIONS: The RHSCIR CFQ-V2.0 is a comprehensive community follow-up questionnaire that aligns to the ICF. Initial study results suggest that it covers all relevant aspects of community living, and the measurement properties are promising.

A Look at Spinal Cord Injury in Canada: Rick Hansen Spinal Cord Injury Registry (RHSCIR) - 2021 SCI Data Summary.

The Rick Hansen Spinal Cord Injury Registry (RHSCIR) is a prospective registry of individuals who sustain a spinal cord injury (SCI) from 18 acute and 14 rehabilitation (rehab) Canadian hospitals specializing in SCI care. The data summary provides demographic and clinical details on 1148 people with either a traumatic spinal cord injury (tSCI) or a nontraumatic spinal cord injury (ntSCI) who were treated at a RHSCIR hospital in 2021. Information about the patient demographics, cause and severity of injury, care pathway, length of hospital stay, secondary complications, and social impacts after SCI were included. Data from the summary can provide researchers, healthcare providers, and decision makers with knowledge and evidence that may support strategies to improve SCI care services within their institutions.

Head Injury Prevalence in a Population of Injured Patients Seeking Care in Ghana, West Africa.

Background/Significance: Much of the literature on head injury (HI) prevalence comes from high-income countries (HICs), despite the disproportionate burden of injuries in low to middle-income countries (LMICs). This study evaluated the HI prevalence in the Kintampo Injury Registry, a collaborative effort between Kintampo Health Research Centre (KHRC) in Ghana and the sidHARTe Program at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. In our first aim, we characterize the HI prevalence in the registry. In aim 2, we examine if there are any sex (male/female) differences in head injury outcomes in these populations for points of potential intervention. Methods: Secondary analysis of data from the Kintampo Injury Registry which had 7,148 registered patients collected during January 2013 to January 2015. The definition of a case was adopted to ensure consistency with the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, revision 10 (ICD-10). A 3-page questionnaire was used to collect data from injured patients to include in the registry. The questions were designed to be consistent with the World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines on injury surveillance and were adapted from the questionnaire used in a pilot, multi-country injury study undertaken in other parts of Africa. The questionnaire collected information on the anatomic site of injury (e.g., head), mechanism of injury (e.g., road traffic injuries, interpersonal injuries (including domestic violence), falls, drowning, etc.), severity and circumstances of the injury, as well as precipitating factors, such as alcohol and drug use. The questionnaire consisted mainly of close-ended questions and was designed for efficient data entry. For the secondary data analyses for this manuscript, we only included those with "1st visit following injury" and excluded all transfers and follow-up visits (n = 834). We then dichotomized the remaining 6,314 patients to head injured and non-head injured patients based on responses to the variable "Nature of injury =Head Injury". We used chi-square and Fisher's exact tests with p < 0.05 as cut-off for statistical significance. Logistic regression estimates were used for effect estimates. Results: Of the 6,314 patients, there were 208 (3.3%) head-injured patients and 6,106 (96.7%) patients without head injury. Head-injured patients tended to be older (Mean age: 28.9 +/-13.7; vs. 26.1 +/- 15.8; p = 0.004). Seven in 10 head injured patients sustained their injuries via transport/road traffic accidents, and head-injured patients had 13 times the odds of mortality compared with those without head injuries (OR: 13.3; 95% CI: 8.05, 22.0; p < 0.0001) even though over half of them had mild or moderate injury severity scores (p < 0.001). Evaluation of sex differences amongst the head-injured showed that in age-adjusted logistic regression models, males had 1.4 times greater odds of being head injured (OR: 1.4; 95% CI: 1.04, 2.00; p = 0.03) and over twice the risk of mortality (OR: 2.7; 95% CI: 0.74, 10.00; p = 0.13) compared to females. Conclusion: In these analyses, HI was associated with a higher risk of mortality, particularly amongst injured males; most of whom were injured in transport/road-traffic-related accidents. This study provides an impetus for shaping policy around head injury prevention in LMICs like Ghana.

Modernization of a Large Spinal Cord Injuries and Disorders Registry: The Veterans Administration Experience.

Since the 1990s, Veterans Health Administration (VHA) has maintained a registry of Veterans with Spinal Cord Injuries and Disorders (SCI/Ds) to guide clinical care, policy, and research. Historically, methods for collecting and recording data for the VHA SCI/D Registry (VSR) have required significant time, cost, and staffing to maintain, were susceptible to missing data, and caused delays in aggregation and reporting. Each subsequent data collection method was aimed at improving these issues over the last several decades. This paper describes the development and validation of a case-finding and data-capture algorithm that uses primary clinical data, including diagnoses and utilization across 9 million VHA electronic medical records, to create a comprehensive registry of living and deceased Veterans seen for SCI/D services since 2012. A multi-step process was used to develop and validate a computer algorithm to create a comprehensive registry of Veterans with SCI/D whose records are maintained in the enterprise wide VHA Corporate Data Warehouse. Chart reviews and validity checks were used to validate the accuracy of cases that were identified using the new algorithm. An initial cohort of 28,202 living and deceased Veterans with SCI/D who were enrolled in VHA care from 10/1/2012 through 9/30/2017 was validated. Tables, reports, and charts using VSR data were developed to provide operational tools to study, predict, and improve targeted management and care for Veterans with SCI/Ds. The modernized VSR includes data on diagnoses, qualifying fiscal year, recent utilization, demographics, injury, and impairment for 38,022 Veterans as of 11/2/2022. This establishes the VSR as one of the largest ongoing longitudinal SCI/D datasets in North America and provides operational reports for VHA population health management and evidence-based rehabilitation. The VSR also comprises one of the only registries for individuals with non-traumatic SCI/Ds and holds potential to advance research and treatment for multiple sclerosis (MS), amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), and other motor neuron disorders with spinal cord involvement. Selected trends in VSR data indicate possible differences in the future lifelong care needs of Veterans with SCI/Ds. Future collaborative research using the VSR offers opportunities to contribute to knowledge and improve health care for people living with SCI/Ds.

Mechanisms of accidental fall injuries and involved injury factors: a registry-based study.

BACKGROUND: Falls are the leading cause of injury-related morbidity and mortality worldwide, but fall injury circumstances differ by age. We studied the circumstances of accidental fall injuries by age in Shenkursk District, Northwest Russia, using the data from the population-based Shenkursk Injury Registry. METHODS: Data on accidental fall injuries (hereafter: fall injuries) occurring in January 2015-June 2018 were extracted from the Shenkursk Injury Registry (N = 1551) and categorized by age group (0-6, 7-17, 18-59, and 60+ years). The chi-square test and ANOVA were used to compare descriptive injury variables across age groups, and a two-step cluster analysis was performed to identify homogeneous groups of fall injuries by preceding circumstances. RESULTS: Half of recorded fall injuries in the 0-6 year age group occurred inside dwellings (49%). The largest cluster of falls (64%) mainly included climbing up or down on home furnishings. In the 7-17 year age group, public outdoor residential areas were the most common fall injury site (29%), and the largest cluster of falls (37%) involved physical exercise and sport or play equipment. Homestead lands or areas near a dwelling were the most typical fall injury sites in the age groups 18-59 and 60+ years (31 and 33%, respectively). Most frequently, fall injury circumstances in these groups involved slipping on ice-covered surfaces (32% in 18-59 years, 37% in 60+ years). CONCLUSION: The circumstances of fall injuries in the Shenkursk District varied across age groups. This knowledge can be used to guide age-specific preventive strategies in the study area and similar settings.

Weather Conditions and Outdoor Fall Injuries in Northwestern Russia.

This study aimed to investigate associations between the weather conditions and the frequency of medically-treated, non-fatal accidental outdoor fall injuries (AOFIs) in a provincial region of Northwestern Russia. Data on all non-fatal AOFIs that occurred from January 2015 through June 2018 (N = 1125) were extracted from the population-based Shenkursk Injury Registry (SHIR). Associations between the weather conditions and AOFIs were investigated separately for the cold (15 October-14 April) and the warm (15 April-14 October) seasons. Negative binomial regression was used to investigate daily numbers of AOFIs in the cold season, while zero-inflated Poisson regression was used for the warm season. The mean daily number of AOFIs was 1.7 times higher in the cold season compared to the warm season (1.10 vs. 0.65, respectively). The most typical accident mechanism in the cold season was slipping (83%), whereas stepping wrong or stumbling over something was most common (49%) in the warm season. The highest mean daily incidence of AOFIs in the cold season (20.2 per 100,000 population) was observed on days when the ground surface was covered by compact or wet snow, air temperature ranged from -7.0 °C to -0.7 °C, and the amount of precipitation was above 0.4 mm. In the warm season, the highest mean daily incidence (7.0 per 100,000 population) was observed when the air temperature and atmospheric pressure were between 9.0 °C and 15.1 °C and 1003.6 to 1010.9 hPa, respectively. Along with local weather forecasts, broadcasting warnings about the increased risks of outdoor falls may serve as an effective AOFI prevention tool.

Developing a trauma registry in a middle-income country - Botswana.

BACKGROUND: Botswana has a large burden of disease from injury, but no trauma registry. This study sought to design and pilot test a trauma registry at two hospitals. METHODS: A cross sectional study was piloted at a tertiary hospital and a secondary level hospital in Botswana. The study consisted of two stages: stage 1 - stakeholders' consultation and trauma registry prototype was designed. Stage 2 consisted of two phases: Phase I involved retrospective collection of existing data from existing data collection tools and Phase II collected data prospectively using the proposed trauma registry prototype. RESULTS: The pre-hospital road traffic accident data are collected using hard copy forms and some of these data were transferred to a stand-alone electronic registry. The hospital phase of road traffic accident data all goes into hard copy files then stored in institutional registry departments. The post-hospital data were also partially stored as hard copies and some data are stored in a stand-alone electronic registry. The demographics, pre-hospital, triage, diagnosis, management and disposition had a high percent variable completion rate with no significant difference between phases I and II. However, the primary survey variables in Phase I had a low percent variable completion rate which was significantly different from the high completion rates in phase II at both hospitals. A similar picture was observed for the secondary survey at both hospitals. CONCLUSION: Electronic trauma registries are feasible and data completion rate is high when using the electronic data registry as opposed to data collected using the existing paper-based data collection tools.

Injury registration for primary prevention in a provincial Russian region: setting up a new trauma registry.

BACKGROUND: The Shenkursk Injury Registry (SHIR) was established in the Shenkursk District, Northwestern Russia in 2015 for the purposes of primary prevention. The SHIR covers all injuries (ICD-10 diagnoses from S00 to T78) for which medical aid is given at the Shenkursk central district hospital and includes data about injury circumstances. We used the SHIR data to assess the quality of the SHIR as an evidence basis and for the local preventive applications. METHODS: Completeness, representativeness, and reliability of the SHIR data were assessed using a sample of 1696 injuries which have occurred in July 2015-June 2016. Chi-square tests were used to assess differences between the registered and missed cases in the registry and Cohen's kappa were applied to assess the agreement between independent data entries. RESULTS: The completeness of the SHIR with respect to the coverage of cases treated at the Shenkursk central district hospital was 86%. There were no differences between the registered and the missed injuries by sex, ICD-10 codes, weekday of admission, but there were differences in their distribution by attending physicians. Also, higher proportions of child injuries and injuries in the summer time were among the missed cases. Signs of lower injury severity (different distribution by ICD-10 codes and lower proportion of traffic injuries) were observed among injuries in rural areas which were not covered by the registry because of treatment at rural primary health care units without referrals to the central hospital. Two independent data entries from standard paper injury registration forms showed a 79-99% agreement, depending on the variable considered. CONCLUSION: With consideration of possible insubstantial overestimates of the average injury severity, the SHIR data can be considered sufficiently complete, reliable, and representative of the injury situation in the Shenkursk District. Therefore, SHIR is an adequate evidentiary basis for planning local injury prevention.

Developing a hospital-based combat injury registry at the Chinese Peacekeeping Level 2 Military Hospital in GAO, Mali.

BACKGROUND: Having served more than 4000 personnel including the peacekeeping troops, UN police and civilian staff, the Chinese Peacekeeping Level 2 Military Hospital has accumulated 1235 inpatient medical records in 4 years. Assessment of the records stored in the CHN L2 identified that the data collected by different teams were incoherent and highlighted the need for implementation of a hospital-based combat injury registry and the establishment of a combat injury surveillance system. METHODS: A one-page, 21-item registry form was designed to collect general information about the injuries, including such data as demographics, injury event, severity, diagnosis and treatment, and outcome. All relevant personnel was required to undergo a 2-day training in order to master the use of the registry form. The new registry form was used to collect the data on all of the cases recorded in the CHN L2 between 26 April 2014 and 31 March 2017. RESULTS: Analysis of the collected data identified improvised explosive device as the most common (44.95%) mechanism of combat injury in Sector East of MINUSMA. Anefis, the centre of the UN logistic transit, was identified as the location where most of the combat injuries (42.20%) occurred. Based on these results, certain suggestions that addressed this threat were given to the Operation department in Sector East of MINUSMA. CONCLUSION: A hospital-based combat injury registry was successfully developed and implemented in the Chinese Peacekeeping Level 2 Hospital. It can provide data to support the policy changes to minimise the impact of combat injuries on peacekeeping troops. The designed registry form provides more accurate estimates of the magnitude of the morbidity due to different causes in the battlefield and lays a foundation for an injury surveillance system.

Decision tree analysis to better control treatment effects in spinal cord injury clinical research.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to use decision tree modeling to identify optimal stratification groups considering both the neurological impairment and spinal column injury and to investigate the change in motor score as an example of a practical application. Inherent heterogeneity in spinal cord injury (SCI) introduces variation in natural recovery, compromising the ability to identify true treatment effects in clinical research. Optimized stratification factors to create homogeneous groups of participants would improve accurate identification of true treatment effects. METHODS: The analysis cohort consisted of patients with acute traumatic SCI registered in the Vancouver Rick Hansen Spinal Cord Injury Registry (RHSCIR) between 2004 and 2014. Severity of neurological injury (American Spinal Injury Association Impairment Scale [AIS grades A-D]), level of injury (cervical, thoracic), and total motor score (TMS) were assessed using the International Standards for Neurological Classification of Spinal Cord Injury examination; morphological injury to the spinal column assessed using the AOSpine classification (AOSC types A-C, C most severe) and age were also included. Decision trees were used to determine the most homogeneous groupings of participants based on TMS at admission and discharge from in-hospital care. RESULTS: The analysis cohort included 806 participants; 79.3% were male, and the mean age was 46.7 ± 19.9 years. Distribution of severity of neurological injury at admission was AIS grade A in 40.0% of patients, grade B in 11.3%, grade C in 18.9%, and grade D in 29.9%. The level of injury was cervical in 68.7% of patients and thoracolumbar in 31.3%. An AOSC type A injury was found in 33.1% of patients, type B in 25.6%, and type C in 37.8%. Decision tree analysis identified 6 optimal stratification groups for assessing TMS: 1) AOSC type A or B, cervical injury, and age ≤ 32 years; 2) AOSC type A or B, cervical injury, and age > 32-53 years; 3) AOSC type A or B, cervical injury, and age > 53 years; 4) AOSC type A or B and thoracic injury; 5) AOSC type C and cervical injury; and 6) AOSC type C and thoracic injury. CONCLUSIONS: Appropriate stratification factors are fundamental to accurately identify treatment effects. Inclusion of AOSC type improves stratification, and use of the 6 stratification groups could minimize confounding effects of variable neurological recovery so that effective treatments can be identified.

An interview of trauma registry custodians to determine lessons learnt.

INTRODUCTION: The international burden of injury is an increasing concern in global healthcare. Developed trauma care systems have reduced death and disability following injury. The ideal platform for surveillance and clinical governance in trauma care quality improvement is the trauma registry. There is a great disparity in the prevalence of active trauma registries between developed and developing countries. More detailed information on lessons learnt would guide those settings, hospitals and regions looking to establish a sustainable trauma registry. The aim of this study was to explore the experiences and perceptions of trauma registry custodians regarding the development of successful and sustainable trauma registries. METHODS: This was a qualitative study using semi-structured interviews of trauma registry custodians. Trauma registries were selected from a wide range of jurisdictions, including single hospital and multi-hospital registries, based in developed and developing countries. Interview transcripts were analysed using thematic analysis; recurrent themes were identified, and a coding frame developed. Quotes were identified to illustrate the themes in the participants' own words. RESULTS: Twenty-seven interviews, representing 29 registries, were completed. Fourteen of the source registries were based in developed countries (6 single hospital, 8 multi-hospital) and 15 were based in developing countries (9 single hospital, 6 multi-hospital). The analysis generated 15 themes covering resources, data and strategies. The themes dealing with resources were: funding, staffing, information technology and tools for guidance. The themes dealing with data were: data quality, simplicity, injury coding and data utilisation. The themes dealing with strategies were: having a local champion and a clear purpose, stakeholder buy-in, governance, integration, getting started and persistence. For developing countries, the need for a local champion, dealing with data quality through prospective data collection, integration into local resources and keeping it simple were considered particularly important. CONCLUSION: The general consensus was that, for a trauma registry to be successful, in addition to adequate funding and trained staff, it needs to be led by a local champion with engagement of key local stakeholders. It should have a clear purpose, pay close attention to data quality and ensure that the data is well used.

Classifying, measuring and improving the quality of data in trauma registries: A review of the literature.

INTRODUCTION: Globally, injury is a major cause of death and disability. Improvements in trauma care have been driven by trauma registries. The capacity of a trauma registry to inform improvements in the quality of trauma care is dependent upon the quality of data. The literature on data quality in disease registries is inconsistent and ambiguous; methods used for classifying, measuring, and improving data quality are not standardised. The aim of this study was to review the literature to determine the methods used to classify, measure and improve data quality in trauma registries. METHODS: A scoping review of the literature was performed. Databases were searched using the term "trauma registry" and its synonyms, combined with multiple terms denoting data quality. There was no restriction on year. Full-length manuscripts were included if the classification, measurement or improvement of data quality in one or more trauma registries was a study objective. Data were abstracted regarding registry demographics, study design, data quality classification, and the reported methods used to measure and improve the pre-defined data quality dimensions of accuracy, completeness and capture. RESULTS: Sixty-nine publications met the inclusion criteria. Four publications classified data quality. The most frequently described methods for measuring data accuracy (n=47) were checks against other datasets (n=18) and checks of injury coding (n=17). The most frequently described methods for measuring data completeness (n=47) were the percentage of included cases, for a given variable or list of variables, for which there was an observation in the registry (n=29). The most frequently described methods for measuring data capture (n=37) were the percentage of cases in a linked reference dataset that were also captured in the primary dataset being evaluated (n=24). Most publications dealing with the measurement of a dimension of data quality did not specify the methods used; most publications dealing with the improvement of data quality did not specify the dimension being targeted. CONCLUSION: The classification, measurement and improvement of data quality in trauma registries is inconsistent. To maintain confidence in the usefulness of trauma registries, the metrics and reporting of data quality need to be standardised.

Trauma registry methodology: a survey of trauma registry custodians to determine current approaches.

INTRODUCTION: The global burden of injury is enormous, especially in developing countries. Trauma systems in highincome countries have reduced mortality and disability. An important component of trauma quality improvement programmes is the trauma registry which monitors the epidemiology, processes and outcomes of trauma care. There is a severe deficit of trauma registries in developing countries and there are few resources to support the development of trauma registries. Specifically, publicly available information of trauma registry methodology in developed trauma registries is sparse. The aim of this study was to describe and compare trauma registries globally. METHODS: A survey of trauma registry custodians was conducted. Purposive sampling was used to select trauma registries following a structured review of the literature. Registries for which there were at least two included abstracts over the five-year period were defined as active and selected. Following piloting and revision, a detailed survey covering physical and human resources, administration and methodology was distributed. The survey responses were analysed; single hospital and multi-hospital registries were compared. RESULTS: Eighty-four registries were emailed the survey. Sixty-five trauma registries participated, giving a response rate of 77%. Of the 65 participating registries, 40 were single hospital registries and 25 were multi-hospital registries. Fifteen countries were represented; more than half of the participating registries were based in the USA. There was considerable variation in resourcing and methodology between registries. A trauma registry most commonly had at least three staff, reported to both the hospital and government, included more than 1000 cases annually, listed admission, death and transfer amongst inclusion criteria, mandated collection of more than 100 data elements, used AIS Version 2005 (2008 update) and used age, the Glasgow Coma Scale and the Injury Severity Score for injury severity adjustment. CONCLUSION: Whilst some characteristics were common across many trauma registries, the resourcing and methodology varied markedly. The common features identified may serve as a guide to those looking to establish a trauma registry. However much remains to be done for trauma registries to determine the best standardised approach.