Injury Visits to Hospital Emergency Departments: United States, 1992-95

Ambulatory medical care, which occurs in a wide range of settings, is the predominant method of providing health care services for injuries. This report, "Injury Visits to Hospital Emergency Departments: United States, 1992-95," describes ambulatory care visits for injuries to hospital emergency departments in the United States. Statistics are presented on selected patient, hospital and visit characteristics. The data in this report were collected in the National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (NHAMCS). The NHAMCS is part of the ambulatory care component of the National Health Care Survey, which measures health care utilization across various types of providers.

Data Highlights:
From 1992 through 1995, an estimate of 147 million visits for injuries were made to hospital emergency departments in the United States, an average of 36.8 million visits per year with an annual utilization rate of 14.3 visits per 100 persons.
Persons 15-24 years had a higher rate of injury-related emergency department visits compared with other age groups.
Open wounds accounted for the largest proportion of injuries (22.0 percent).
The leading external causes of injuries include falls, being stuck by or against a person or object, and motor vehicle traffic injuries.
For all ages, 6.3 percent of the injury visits had a disposition of admission for inpatient care.

Keywords: emergency department visits, diagnoses, injury,
ICD-9-CM

This page last reviewed January 11, 2007