Discrepancies in vehicular crash injury reporting: Northeastern Ohio Trauma Study. IV.

People injured in motor vehicle traffic crashes were identified from a population-representative incidence sample of hospital emergency department visits. Matched police reports of crashes were sought in official state records of motor vehicle traffic crashes. Of the emergency department cases, 55% had matched police reports. The frequency of matched reports was highest for drivers (74%), people transported to the hospital by emergency vehicle (69%), and those requiring hospital admission (74%). The frequency was lowest for people younger than 16 years (28%), people injured as occupants of vehicles other than passenger cars (24%), medicaid recipients (33%), and nonresidents of the study region (40%). Motor vehicle traffic injuries are undercounted in police-reported statistics. For many groups, police reporting is less than 50% of the cases identified through emergency departments. The likelihood that a case of motor vehicle traffic injury will have a matched police report depends on demographic, social and crash factors as well as on injury severity.