A 13-years Nationwide Study of Alpine Accidents in Austria

A 13-years Nationwide Retrospective Observational Study of Alpine Accidents in Austria - Sleighing, Skiing, Snowboarding, Snowshoeing, Climbing, Hiking, Cycling, Mountain Biking, Canyoning and Alpine Watersport Activities

Brief Summary:

This observational study intends to analyze the characteristic of specific accidents happened in Austrian's mountainous regions. The mechanisms of accidents which are evaluated are accidents while using a sleigh, climbing accidents, cycle accidents, canyoning accidents, hiking accidents, snowshoeing accidents, water-sport accidents, ski and snowboard accidents.

Study Overview

• Status: Active, not recruiting
• Conditions: Climbing; Alpine Accident; Sleighing; Cycling; Canyoning; Hiking; Snowshoeing; Alpine Water-sport; Skiing/Snowboarding
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: general and specific data

Detailed Description

The data are collected retrospectively from the database of Austrian alpine police force. These data are analyzed. The information from this database (scene of accident, weather, daytime…) is compared to secondary data collected from the University Hospital of Innsbruck. The comparison of both databases was approved by the Austrian Data Protection Agency. The goal of the study is to give detailed information of circumstances leading to accident and give medical information of the patient's condition and his outcome.

The method to collect data and to analyze is the same than in AN4757 315/4.4 (NCT03405467).

• Study Type: Observational
• Enrollment (Actual): 20000

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Austria
  • Innsbruck, Austria, 6020
    • General and Surgical Critical Care Medicine, Medical University of Innsbruck

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: ADULT; OLDER_ADULT; CHILD
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

• Sampling Method: Probability Sample

Study Population

All Patients in the two databases eligible for the searched injury patterns.

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• All patients with the criteria for an alpine accident characteristics described under "Conditions".

Exclusion Criteria:

• All patients without accident characteristics described under "Conditions".
• All patients which suffered an accident not in alpine environment.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Number of groups / cohorts

8

Cohorts and Interventions

Group / Cohort	Intervention / Treatment
Sleigh Accident; Accident while using a sleigh	Other: general and specific data; General and specific data collected
Climbing Accident; Accident occurred while climbing (rock, ice)	Other: general and specific data; General and specific data collected
Cycle Accident; Accident occurred while using any form of cycle in the mountains (e.g. bike, mountainbike, e-bike)	Other: general and specific data; General and specific data collected
Canyoning Accident; Accident occurred while doing canyoning	Other: general and specific data; General and specific data collected
Hiking Accident; Accident occurred while hiking in mountainous area.	Other: general and specific data; General and specific data collected
Snowshoeing Accident; Accident occurred while doing Snowshoeing	Other: general and specific data; General and specific data collected
Mountainous Water-sport Accident; Accident occurred while doing any type of Water-sport (e.g. canoeing, kayaking, tubing, swimming) in mountainous environment.	Other: general and specific data; General and specific data collected
Skiing/Snowboarding; Accident occurred while using ski or a snowboard either in backcountry or on ski slope	Other: general and specific data; General and specific data collected

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Number of persons suffered an accident in Alpine Mountains in Austria	The number of persons which suffered one of the specified accidents. (n/year)	2005-2018
Gender of persons suffered an accident in Alpine Mountains in Austria	Gender male/female or non specified which suffered one of the specified accidents. (n/year)	2005-2018
Mortality of persons suffered an accident in Alpine Mountains in Austria	Number of persons deceased (deceased/n per year) which suffered one of the specified accidents.	2005-2018

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Number of patients treated per injury pattern at Medical University of Innsbruck, a major trauma center in western Austria.	(n/year) treated at Medical University of Innsbruck	2005-2018
Gender of patients treated per injury pattern at Medical University of Innsbruck, a major trauma center in western Austria.	male/female, unspecified treated at Medical University of Innsbruck (n/year)	2005-2018
Injury severity score (ISS) per injury pattern at Medical University of Innsbruck, a major trauma center in western Austria.	Injury severity score of suffered injury (ISS=AIS*AIS)	2005-2018
Abbreviated Injury severity scale (AIS) per injury pattern at Medical University of Innsbruck, a major trauma center in western Austria.	Abbreviated Injury Severity Scale of suffered injury (1-6 points; scale - minor, moderate, serious, severe, critical, maximum)	2005-2018
Type of evacuation	Type of evacuation (terrestrial, helicopter, combined terrestrial and helicopter) (n/year)	2005-2018
Mortality depending on evacuation type	Number of fatalities depending on type of evacuation (n/year)	2005-2018

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Medical University Innsbruck
• Collaborators: Institute of Mountain Emergency Medicine
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Mathias Ströhle, General and Surgical Critical Care Medicine, Medical University of Innsbruck

Publications and helpful links

General Publications

• Rugg CD, Malzacher T, Ausserer J, Rederlechner A, Paal P, Strohle M. Gender differences in snowboarding accidents in Austria: a 2005-2018 registry analysis. BMJ Open. 2021 Oct 19;11(10):e053413. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2021-053413.

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (ACTUAL): December 22, 2018
• Primary Completion (ACTUAL): May 27, 2020
• Study Completion (ANTICIPATED): June 1, 2022

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: November 26, 2018
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: November 26, 2018
• First Posted (ACTUAL): November 27, 2018

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (ACTUAL): September 8, 2021
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: September 7, 2021
• Last Verified: September 1, 2021

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Other Study ID Numbers: AN2016-0018 358/4.8 390/5.5

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No