The Canadian Hospital injury reporting and prevention program: Captured versus uncaptured injuries for patients presenting at a paediatric tertiary care centre

Objectives: The Canadian Hospital Injury Reporting and Prevention Program (CHIRPP) is an injury surveillance program that informs prevention policy locally and nationally. It is of import that it is reflective of the underlying population. The objective of this study was to describe differences between those injuries that were captured by the program, and those that were not. Methods: This was a retrospective chart review of patients presenting with an injury to the IWK Health Centre between January 12, 2013 and June 30, 2013. The patients (or their parents/guardians) either completed a CHIRPP form (captured injuries), or did not (non-captured). The probability of receiving a CHIRPP form was modelled using logistic regression using patients' age, gender, disposition, Canadian Triage Assessment Scale (CTAS) score and activity/event at time of injury. Results: A total of 2928 patients presented with an injury during the study period. Of these, 2135 (72.9%) were captured by the CHIRPP program and 793 (27.1%) were not. Patients (or parents) not returning the form to the department (465/793, 58.6%) represented the largest source of non-capture. The likelihood of non-capture increased with increasing CTAS score, the patient being admitted, and the following events at time of injury: drugs or overdoses, self-harm and foreign body involvement. Conclusion: There is an under-representation of seriously injured patients by CHIRPP at the IWK. This data may underestimate the true severity of injuries. It may also under-represent injuries that involve incidents of self-harm or drugs. Effort must be expended to increase the capture rate of CHIRPP.