Profiling patients with and without subsequent injury hospital admissions following a distal radius (wrist) facture.

Subsequent injury (SI) is as an important contributor to the overall injury burden. High hospital readmission rates following injury increase community and hospital costs and significantly impact on the individual and their family, yet readmissions are thought to be preventable 9%–48% of the time. Distal radius (wrist) fractures (DRF) are the most common fracture presenting for medical care across all age groups. There is a need to better understand the profiles of patients with and without subsequent injury hospital admissions following an a DRF injury and establish risk factors associated with a SI hospital admission following this type of orthopaedic injury. This primary aim of this project is to profile patients with and without subsequent injury hospital admissions following a DRF injury. This is a registry-based cohort study using existing data associated with the Predicting fracture outcomes from clinical Registry data using Artificial Intelligence Supplemented models for Evidence-informed treatment (PRAISE) study to determine. Data from the Victorian Orthopaedic Trauma Outcomes Registry (VOTOR) linked to the Victorian Admitted Episodes Dataset (VAED) and the VEMD to provide admissions and ED presentations for the two years prior, and all admissions and ED presentations in the two years following, the VOTOR admission. This linked dataset will provide a comprehensive dataset for the prediction models. The linked VOTOR data includes adult (≥ 16 years) patients admitted with DRF for >24h to key hospitals in Victoria. The dataset will contain descriptors of the “personality” of the DRF including demographic details, pre-existing health conditions, injury event details, treating healthcare service, associated injuries, fracture characteristics and treatment. Students will need to have a sound understanding of biostatistical techniques such as regression. Interested students are invited to make an appointment to meet with Dr Joanna Dipnall to discuss this project.