The initial lockdowns of 2020 saw a spike upwards in the number of Australians hospitalised for injuries occurred at home while fewer people were injured in public places according to a new report from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW).
Spokesperson for AIHW, Dr Adrian Webster said the Injury in Australia 2019-20 report also revealed that males made up most of the 527,000 hospitalisations and 13,400 deaths due to injuries during that period.
“Most injuries, whether accidental or intentional, are preventable, yet they remain a major cause of hospitalisation and death in Australia,” Dr Webster said.
“COVID-19 restrictions contributed to a decrease in injury-related hospitalisations in the early months of 2020, with 14 per cent fewer admissions between March and May compared with the previous year,” he said.
“However, as restrictions eased, injury admissions rose and by June 2020 were similar to previous years.”
Dr Webster said COVID-19 restrictions also changed the location of where injuries occurred, with fewer injuries at community settings such as schools, sporting areas and shopping centres.
“Meanwhile, injuries at home were more frequent from April onwards,” he said.
“The largest decreases in injury-related hospitalisations between March and May 2020 were for causes such as drowning, electricity and air pressure, contact with living things (including bites and stings), and forces of nature (including natural disasters).”
He said that in 2019-20, males made up 55 per cent of all injury hospitalisations and almost two thirds (62 per cent) of injury deaths.
Dr Webster said males had higher rates of hospitalised injury than females across all causes, except for falls and intentional self-injury, as well as higher rates of injury death than females in every cause category.
The AHIW Report can be accessed at this PS News link.
