Undoubtedly the implementation

of population-based systems and trauma registry systems is a part of this evolutionary process, the results of which are then utilised to further refine health policy and patient care. In this context the studies conducted to date and examined by this Review could be viewed as precursors of injury surveillance and/or comprehensive trauma registry systems in China. These studies demonstrate both the operational feasibility of these systems and their value as a means of informing public health policy and practice. Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical It is worth noting that the establishment of trauma registry systems is a relatively recent phenomenon globally; for example, the trauma registry system that captures Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical major trauma in Victoria, Australia, was selleck chem SB203580 established only a decade ago in 2001

[43]. While China has developed into a leading economic power, this has also occurred only recently [6,50]. While a number of barriers could be suggested for reasons as to why a trauma registry has yet to be established in China – such Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical as language and limited opportunities for training in locations that have established registry systems, it must also be recognised that there is a need to demonstrate the value of such systems which then enables, or ‘unlocks’ the financial resources required for their initial establishment and on-going operation. This latter point is a particularly important consideration in the context of competing development Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical needs, which remains a feature of China at this point in time – and this is equally applicable in other low and middle

income countries. The development of the NISS [36] introduced in 2005 goes some way in addressing the need for a national injury surveillance and registry system. Notably, four of the studies reviewed here used the NISS Reporting Card as the basis for data collection. That the NISS commenced in a limited number of hospitals supports the contention that the development of population-based health Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical data systems is progressive. The NISS now collects information on injuries from 129 hospital never emergency departments from 43 counties (20 urban centres, 23 rural centres). Information collected on the Reporting Card includes simple demographics (age, occupation), injury cause information such as time and place of occurrence, causes, intention and activity when injured, as well as time of admission. The Reporting Card also collects information on severity, Batimastat outcome, clinical diagnosis, and nature and site of injury although internationally recognised scoring systems such as the ICD, ISS, RTS, and TRISS are not currently used. The inclusion of these clinical indicators and severity indices would increase NISS’ value immensely, however it is recognized that the necessary training for the use of these indicators is likely to be costly until a point where a collective of local ‘train-the-trainers’ is established.