Injury and poisoning episodes and conditions: National Health Interview Survey, 1997

This report provides a descriptive overview of the first year of data from the injury section of the redesigned National Health Interview Survey. It documents the Survey's design methodologies and presents detailed national estimates of nonfatal injury and poisoning episodes for 1997.

Data for the U.S. civilian noninstitutionalized population were collected using Computer Assisted Personal Interview (CAPI). The data on all medically attended injuries and poisonings occurring to any family member during the 3-month period prior to the interview were obtained from an adult member of the family.

In 1997, 34.4 million medically-attended episodes of injury and poisoning were reported, resulting in an age-adjusted rate of 128.9 episodes per 1000 persons. Injury episodes resulted in 40.9 million injury conditions for a rate of 153.7 conditions per 1,000 persons. Falls were the leading external cause of injury, followed by episodes resulting from being struck by or against a person or an object, transportation, overexertion, cutting and piercing instruments, and poisoning. Sprains and strains were the most frequently reported injury condition followed by open wounds, fractures, and contusions. Upper extremity and lower extremity injuries were the leading body regions for these conditions. Leisure activities and paid work were most often reported as the activities the person was engaged in when the injury episode occurred, and. the home was the most likely place for the injury to have occurred.

The redesigned NHIS is a useful source of information about medically-attended nonfatal injuries and poisonings. A single year now provides enough data to produce stable national estimates on details of injury and poisoning episodes.