The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA

Abstract #49562

Windsor W. Sherrill, PhD¹, Rachel M. Mayo, PhD¹, and Veronica Parker, PhD². (1) Deparment of Public Health Sciences, Clemson University, 524 Edwards Hall, Clemson, SC 29634, 864-656-0263, wsherri@clemson.edu, (2) School of Nursing, Clemson University, 528 Edwards Hall, Clemson, SC 29634

Each year, approximately 30 million people in the United States are treated in emergency rooms for injuries. Injury is the leading cause of mortality, emergency department visits, and hospital admissions for persons across all age groups. More than 150,000 people in the U.S. die each year from injuries, and the economic impact of injury is significant. With many rural areas, South Carolina ranks among the top five states nationally for injury occurrence. South Carolina’s ratio of deaths to injury-related hospitalizations is three times the U.S. average. The purpose of this study was to develop an economic profile of the injuries treated in an upstate rural county of South Carolina compared to other regions in the state. The goal of the report was to provide an analysis of hospital admissions due to injury and their impact on rural populations. Information on hospital discharge and emergency department visits was obtained from both the 1998 Statewide Hospital Discharge Data Set and the Statewide Emergency Department Visits Data set. The state data on injuries was used to compare statewide information with information from Anderson County, a predominantly rural region in SC. Results will be presented concerning the disproportionate impact of injury in rural regions. In particular, the disproportionate numbers of uninsured patients who suffer from injury in rural regions, higher average costs for injury as well as the significantly greater incidence of particular types of injury such as falls among patients in rural areas. Data concerning hospital admissions related to injury, length of hospital stay, deaths due to injury, and injury incidence by payer source will be presented.

Learning Objectives:

• Participants will be familiar with the incidence and problems of injury and its particular impact on rural populations.

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
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.