State of usual residence

Figure 2 shows the age adjusted rate of incidence of persisting SCI from traumatic causes by state of usual residence. No rate was shown for the Northern Territory due to the non-reporting of injury dates for some cases, uncertainty about the reliability of data on a number of the remaining cases, and a low case count. The incidence rate for the ACT was not reported due to a low case count. The reported incidence rates for New South Wales and Queensland were estimates which included the cases (eight cases and four cases, respectively) whose registration information was missing and whose age distribution was matched to that of the nationally reported cases.

Figure 2: Incidence of persisting SCI from traumatic causes by State of residency, Australia 1996/97 (age adjusted rates)

• It was evident from the 95% confidence intervals on the rates, based on the Poisson distribution, that no State had a rate that was significantly different from the national incidence rate in 1996/97.
• No State had a rate that was significantly different from any other State in 1996/97. This differed from 1995/96 where the rate for Queensland was significantly higher than that of Victoria.
• The incidence rates ranged from a high of 17.5 SCI cases per million of population in Queensland to a low of 10.2 SCI cases per million of population in Victoria, in 1996/97. The Queensland rate remained the highest of any State during 1995/96 and 1996/97.
• All States, except South Australia had a reduction in the point estimate of the incidence rate from 1995/96 to 1996/97. South Australia's incidence rate increased from 11.6 to 15.3 SCI cases per million of population over the period (not statistically significant).