2023-09-25 Mobility scooter - Follow-up from John O'Connor

[mortality-forum]

Hi everyone,

 Can anyone suggest coding selections for a fall from a mobility scooter on street, unknown whether sidewalk or road. I did not include injuries as conundrum is battery vs motor and ICD-10 'V' vs 'W'

No collision.

 Regards,

John O'Connor

Central Statistics Office, Ireland

 

Follow-up from John O’Connor

 

Hi everyone,

 

Thanks to you both for the response and I really welcome the diverse suggestions as this is typical of discussion amongst coders and shows the value of the forum. I can see the logic of both and here we also proposed

 

 

V09.1 Pedestrian injured in unspecified nontraffic accident  if on footpath and not public highway but wheelchairs are built for roads with indicators etc.

 

As an aside, commuting to work on ice skates! Does life assurance in Canada cover that! 

 

Regards

John

 

Response from Kathy O’Brien, Canada

 

Hello,

 

Here at Statistics Canada, we would code it to W05, falls involving wheelchair.  The reasoning is that in Volume 3 the indexing in the external causes of injury section is:

 

Fall, falling (accidental) W19

…

-involving

…

--skateboards(s) W02

--skates (ice)(roller) W02

--skis W02

--table W08

--wheelchair W05

 

In our opinion a mobility scooter is a type of a wheelchair.

 

Also, this is further supported by the definitions of transport accidents, in Volume 1.  The definition of a pedestrian is:

 

(e)  A pedestrian is any person involved in an accident who was not at the time of the accident riding in or on a motor vehicle, railway train, streetcar or animal-drawn or other vehicle, or on a pedal cycle or animal.

Incl.:  person:

·         making adjustment to motor of vehicle

·         changing tyre of vehicle

·         on foot

user of a pedestrian conveyance such as:

·         baby carriage

·         ice-skates

·         perambulator

·         push-cart

·         push-chair

·         roller-skates

·         scooter

·         skateboard

·         skis

·         sled

·         wheelchair (powered)

 

As you can see pedestrian conveyances include ice-skates (yes, people in Canada do use ice skating as a form of transportation), roller-skates, skateboard and wheelchair, which the index codes to a W code for fall.  The only time it would end up in the transport accident section is if there was a collision between another pedestrian or another vehicle.  Therefore, if all you have is fall from mobility scooter, we would code it as a fall from wheelchair, W05.

 

Kind regards,

Kathy

 

Response from Lilliana Bernardo, Portugal

 

Hello,

 

If I understand the question correctly, for this situation according to the rules we code in V28.

 

Regards,

 

Liliana Bernardo

Portugal