Information gaps in relation to the policy questions in Australia
| Question | Knowledge status in Australia, as an example |
|---|---|
| Is this a large enough problem that government should be concerned with? | |
| What is the size of the population burden of sports injuries? | Large numbers of cases, but mainly not treated in the hospital setting |
| How good are these data? | Incomplete both in terms of population coverage and database coding |
| Has this burden changed over time? | Not at the population level |
| Which sectors of the community are most vulnerable? | |
| What population groups are most at risk? | Young–middle aged, men, participants of football codes and activities involving forms of ‘active transport’ and children |
| Is there any evidence of health disparities in their distribution? | Yes – disadvantaged and rural communities appear to have higher rates but reasons for this are unknown |
| Does this link to government policy priorities and targets? | Yes, for health disparities and health promotion. Not clear how it relates to other preventive health strategies |
| Why should the government address the issue? | |
| How much do they cost the community (ie, government)? | Not clear, only ad-hoc estimates are available |
| What part of the healthcare sector bears these costs? | Largely non-hospital/non-government |
| What would be the outcomes (including costs) of government not intervening? | No information |
| Why/how can government lead/impose/influence solutions? | Relevance to the health policy sector are largely unclear or not articulated well by the sports sector |
| What would be the financial and policy benefits of introducing solutions? | Not known |