Estimating factors influencing hospitalisation over 14 days among compensated road crash injuries in Victoria

Background: The Transport Accident Commission’s (TAC) data on hospitalised road trauma is a consistent measure of injury severity in Victoria. Hospitalisation over 14 days, a potential indicator of severe injury, composes 6 per cent of total TAC claims, but almost two-thirds of TAC compensation costs. Aim: This study attempted to estimate factors impacting the likelihood of a TAC claim involving a hospital stay of over 14 days. Data: All the hospitalised TAC claims where the crash had occurred in 2010 were used (4,094 claims; 19.9 per cent were hospitalised for over 14 days). Data on road user, vehicle, road, and crash characteristics of each claim were extracted and used as explanatory variables. Method: A binary logistic regression model was developed to estimate the impact of the explanatory variables on the likelihood of hospitalisation over 14 days. Results: Vulnerable road users, particularly motorcyclists and pedestrians, the elderly (65+), older than 10 years vehicles’ occupants, claimants who involved in crashes on high-speed roads, claimants who sustained serious injuries and claimants sustained psychological trauma as well as physical injuries were more likely to be hospitalised for over 14 days. Conclusions: The findings of this research provide the necessary evidence to speculate about underlying causality and tailor-made strategies to address the risk of severe injury in Victoria.