Research Objective: To provide national data on the number and rates of specific injuries requiring hospitalization, characteristics of patients with these injuries, and days of hospital care devoted to their care. Discharges with a first-listed injury diagnosis considered to be true injuries (trauma and poisoning), and those with medical injuries (adverse effects and complications) were included.
Study Design: Data were from the 1997 National Hospital Discharge Survey (NHDS), a nationally representative sample survey conducted by the National Center for Health Statistics.
Population Studied: U.S. hospital inpatients
Principal Findings: In 1997, 2.5 million patients were hospitalized due to an injury; their average length of stay was 5.2 days. More than one million patients had fractures, and over half a million had medical injuries. The elderly had the highest rate of injury hospitalizations, but there were over 1.5 million patients under 65 hospitalized for injuries. Females had higher rates of fractures and poisonings; males had higher rates of intracranial injuries, lacerations and open wounds, dislocations, burns, and internal injuries. For almost two-thirds of the patients, data were available on the cause of injuries.
Conclusions: Although declining in recent years, hospitalizations for injury continue to consume a substantial number of hospital days. Work should continue in the public health community to develop and implement more effective injury control and prevention programs.
Implications for Policy, Delivery, or Practice: These data can assist in the development of injury prevention programs which target problematic areas and high risk groups.
Learning Objectives: 1. List general categories of injuries for which individuals were hospitalized, and the rates of hospitalization for these categories. 2. Describe the characteristics of inpatients who were hospitalized for different types of injuries
Keywords: Injuries, Hospitals
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: None
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.