The National Center for
Health Statistics (NCHS) has issued a new report documenting
injury-related visits to hospital emergency departments over the period
1992-95. Some of the findings in the report include:
From
1992 through 1995, there were 147 million injury-related visits to
emergency departments in the U.S., an average of 36.8 million per year.
Nearly 4 out of every 10 visits to emergency departments were for
injuries. Fifty-four percent of visits by children ages 5-14 years were
injury-related and 65 percent of visits by males 15-24 years of age were
for injury.
Injury visit rates were higher for males than females and for black
persons compared with white persons. Injury visit rates in the Midwest
were higher than in the South or West geographic regions.
Private insurance was the expected source of payment for 34.6 percent of
injury visits. For persons aged 65 years and over, Medicare was listed as
the expected source of payment in 7 out of 10 visits.
Falls were the leading external cause of injury, accounting for 24 percent
of the injury-related emergency department visits. Being struck by or
striking against an object or person caused another 13 percent, and motor
vehicle traffic incidents caused the injuries in 12 percent of the visits
for which an external cause was provided.
Visits related to falls were more common among children under 5 years of
age and the elderly than for other ages, while visit rates related to
motor vehicle traffic injuries were higher for persons 15-24 years than
for other ages. Visits for poisoning were more likely among young children
than older persons.
There
was an average of 1.9 million emergency department visits for intentional
injuries, an annual rate of 7.5 visits per 1,000 persons.
Among
persons aged 25-44 years, the visit rate for intentional injuries for
black males was more than four times the rate for white males (41.1 and
10.1 visits per 1,000 persons, respectively).
Intentional
injury visit rates were 60 percent higher in metropolitan than
nonmetropolitan areas.
Open
wounds were the leading diagnosis for injury visits, occurring at 22
percent of the injury visits. Males at all age groups were more likely
than females to make visits with a diagnosis of open wounds.
One
out of five injury visits to the emergency department had a noninjury
principal diagnosis such as back pain.
Therapeutic
procedures included wound care (29.6 percent), orthopedic care (20.2
percent), and administration of intravenous fluids (7.2 percent).
Medications
were prescribed at 7 out of 10 injury visits. The leading therapeutic
class was drugs for the relief of pain, occurring at almost one-half of
the injury visits. Antimicrobials were prescribed at 14 percent of the
visits. Immunologic agents, such as tetanus vaccines, were used at 10
percent of the visits.
Overall,
6 percent of injury visits resulted in hospitalization; with persons aged
65 years and over more likely than younger persons to be hospitalized from
the emergency department. Regardless of age, visits for injuries caused by
firearms and poisoning were more likely to result in hospitalization
compared with injuries from other causes.
The
report, "Injury Visits to Hospital Emergency Departments: United
States, 1992-95," is based on data from the National Hospital
Ambulatory Medical Care Survey, conducted by NCHS. The report can be
obtained directly from the NCHS home page http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/
using an Adobe Acrobat 3.0 reader.