Linping Chen

Air particulate pollution due to bushfires and respiratory hospital admissions in Brisbane, Australia

Abstract To examine the impact of bushfire smoke on hospital admission rates for respiratory disease, a time series study was conducted in Brisbane, Australia. Data on particles of 10 microns or less in aerodynamic diameter (PM10) per cubic metre, bushfire events, meteorological conditions, and daily respiratory hospital admissions were obtained for the period of 1 July 1997 to 31 December 2000. A generalized linear model with the negative binomial distribution was used to estimate the effects of bushfire smoke on respiratory hospital admissions. The results of this study show that daily respiratory hospital admission rates consistently increased with increasing levels of PM10 for both bushfire and non-bushfire periods. This relationship appeared stronger during bushfire periods than non-bushfire periods, especially for the current day. The findings suggest that bushfire smoke was statistically significantly associated with an increased risk of respiratory hospital admissions in Brisbane (p < 0.05). The health impact assessment needs to be considered in the control and management of bushfires.

Correlates of undefined cause of injury coded mortality data in Australia

The objective of this research was to identify the level of detail regarding the external causes of death in Australia and ascertain problematic areas where data quality improvement efforts may be focused. The 2003 national mortality dataset of 12,591 deaths with an external cause of injury as the underlying cause of death (UCOD) or multiple cause of death (MCOD) based on ICD-10 code assignment from death certificate information was obtained. Logistic regression models were used to examine the precision of coded external cause of injury data. It was found that overall, accidents were the most poorly defined of all intent code blocks with over 30% of accidents being undefined, representing 2,314 deaths in 2003. More undefined codes were identified in MCOD data than for UCOD data. Deaths certified by doctors were more likely to use undefined codes than deaths certified by a coroner or government medical office. To improve the quality of external cause of injuries leading to or associated with death, certifiers need to be made aware of the importance of documenting all information pertaining to the cause of the injury and the intent behind the incident, either through education or more explicit instructions on the death certificate and accompanying instructional materials. It is important that researchers are aware of the validity of the data when they make interpretations as to the underlying causes of fatal injuries and causes of injury associated with deaths.