Mortality

Mortality rates for injuries and poisoning are higher in Leeds Grenville and Lanark (LGL) than for Ontario. The three-year average age-standardized rate for 1997- 1999 was 43.4 per 100,000 for LGL compared to 34.1 for Ontario. As observed by the Health Information Partnership Eastern Ontario Region (HIP)¹, there are dramatic differences in injury mortality among men and women in the eastern region. For males, half of all injury related deaths occur in the 15-49m year age group. For females, 50% of the deaths are in women age 80 and over. 

Deaths from Motor Vehicle Traffic Accidents (MVAs) in this period were also higher in LGL than Ontario as a whole, with rates of 10.2 per 100,000 compared to 7.0 for Ontario. The HIP has observed that while mortality from MVAs has been declining over time, MVA deaths remain the second leading cause of death from external causes in the eastern region. Only suicide is higher for males, and accidental falls for females.

For children and youth , the leading cause of death is injuries and poisonings. In 1993-1997, over 60% of all deaths to children were in this category, with most of the deaths occurring in the 15-19 year age group.

Hospitalizations

From the Ontario Trauma Registry (OTR), we have data on hospitalizations² for injuries "resulting from the transfer of energy". In other words, excluded are categories such as poisonings, adverse effects of drugs and the late effects of injuries. For Lanark County, the average annual number of hospitalizations³ in fiscal years 1997/98 - 2001/02 for such injuries was 422, with increasing numbers observed towards the end of this period. In Leeds and Grenville, the average annual number of hospitalizations was 620, with no pattern observed in the variation between years.

The OTR also reported on the number of hospitalizations for falls in fiscal year 2001/02. For Leeds Grenville and Lanark, the total number of hospitalizations due to falls was 686. 71% of these hospitalization stays were for individuals aged 65 and over, with 71% of these accounted for by females. Over 23% of hospitalizations were accounted for by the population aged 85 and over, with again the vast majority arising from the female population.

In eastern Ontario in 2000, the most common kind of injury leading to hospitalization for infants and for children aged 1-9 was falls⁴.

Limitations to Normal Activities

The Canadian Community Health Survey 2003 gathered information about the incidence of injuries that caused limitations to normal activities. In the findings of this survey, (fig1_injuries) a greater percentage of individuals aged 12 and over in LGL reported having injuries for which they sought medical attention compared to Ontario as a whole, while the percentage reporting injuries for which they did not seek medical attention was comparable to Ontario.

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Notes 
¹ Health Information Partnership Eastern Ontario Region. Mortality in Eastern Ontario, 1986-1999. Kingston, Ontario. September 2003.
² Canadian Institute for Health Information. Ontario Trauma Registry Analytic Bulletin - May 2004. Injury Hospitalizations by County and Region in Ontario, 2001-2002.
³ Note than one individual may be responsible for more than one hospital stay.
⁴ Health Information Partnership Eastern Ontario Region. The Health Status of Children and Youth in Eastern Ontario. Kingston, Ontario. March 2002 .

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