Injuries to North Carolina Children: 2004 to 2007
Creators: name: Ramirez-Hernandez, Ana
Publisher: name: The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill University Libraries
Year: 2009

description: Childhood injuries are a serious public health problem in the United States responsible for substantial loss of life and human suffering. Aside from the human toll, the economic impact is considerable. According to the CDC about 5,000 children die annually from unintentional injuries while an additional1,500 die from intentional injuries (CDC WISQARS). In North Carolina (N.c.), in 2004-2007, the majority of injury related deaths, hospitalizations and emergency department visits were unintentional. This report presents a basic overview of childhood unintentional injuries in N.C. for the years 2004 to 2007 related to leading causes of childhood injury deaths such as motor vehicles injuries, suffocations, fire/burn related injuries, drownings, and poisonings, among others. The burden of deaths and nonfatal injuries due to each cause are shown in this report by age group and sex. This report is an abbreviated update to the Childhood Injury Report published in 2005 looking at childhood injuries from 1999-2002. This report used a similar format, approach and methodology; however, it is not as comprehensive in nature. In 2004-2007, motor vehicle related injuries continued to be the leading cause of death and the second leading cause of hospitalizations. Suffocation was the second leading cause of death to North Carolina children under the age of 15. On the other hand, falls continued to be the leading cause of hospitalization and emergency department visits in N.C. children. The data analyzed in this report will capture the burden of all injuries due to deaths, hospitalizations and emergency department visits. However, this report does not present data for those injuries treated in other places (urgent care and private practice medical doctors) or those that did not seek care or self treated. This leads to underestimation of the real burden that childhood injuries represent to the state of N.C. and its citizens. However, this report presents the most severe outcomes that represent higher societal costs in terms of health, productivity and resources to the patients, families and their community. Despite the limitations of the data presented, there is enough evidence oft he prevalence of unintentional injuries to children in the state to justify implementation and evaluation of prevention programs. Furthermore, preventing severe injuries need to be the main focus of public health efforts. The burden of injury can be better understood in the context of an injury pyramid or iceberg. The injury iceberg represents injury severity according to the level of the medical intervention. The injuries that cause death are only the tip of the iceberg as they are most visible to the public, but represent the smallest numbers. Non-fatal injuries are much more common. N.C. childhood injury data between 2004 and 2007 shows that for every childhood death caused by injury, there are about 27 hospitalizations, and 295 emergency department visits. Complete data for the rest of the injury iceberg is not available but the two remaining categories are estimated to be progressively even greater. The missing data is from outpatient visits for injury and the numbers of people with injuries, who do not see a doctor, receive no medical care or treat themselves. Understanding of the scope of this problem can contribute to a better allocation of resources for research and prevention programs addressing and preventing injuries. This information can also be helpful to researchers who track trends or evaluate prevention activities; to state and local health officials and advocates prioritizing prevention programs; and to policy-makers at all levels to be able to determine the best use of limited public health resources. Lastly, the general public can use this information to identify injury prevention strategies for their communities.