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Report on Injuries in America

Selected Measures of Unintentional Injuries, U.S., 2001-2005

Measure 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005
Unintentional-injury deaths (NCHS)# 101,537 106,742 109,277 112,000 113,000
    Deaths per 100,000
    population 		35.6 37.1 37.6 38.1 38.1
Disabling unintentional injuries — — — — 24,100,000
Costs to society of unintentional injuries (billions) — — — — $625.5
Medically attended injury episodes 24,551,000 23,661,000 23,782,000 33,173,000Δ n/a
    Per 1,000 population 88.8 84.9 83.4 115.1Δ n/a
Emergency department U-I visits 28,342,000 26,622,000 28,047,000 28,123,000 n/a
    Per 1,000 population 10.1 9.4 9.8 9.6 n/a
Motor-vehicle total deaths (1-year rule)# 43,788 45,380 44,757 45,300 45,800
    Deaths per 100
    million vehicle-miles#		 1.57 1.59 1.55 1.53 1.54
    Deaths per 100
    population#		 15.4 15.8 15.4 15.4 15.5
NHTSA MV traffic deaths (30-day rule) 42,196 43,005 42,884 42,836 43,443
    Deaths per 100
    million vehicle-miles 		1.51 1.51 1.48 1.45 1.47
NHTSA MV traffic injuries 3,033,000 2,926,000 2,889,000 2,788,000 2,699,000
    Injuries per 100
    million vehicle-miles 		108 102 100 94 91
Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries total deaths 5,915 5,524 5,575 5,764 5,702*
    Per 100,000 workers 4.3 4.0 4.0 4.1 4.0*
Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries U-I deaths 5,042 4,726 4,725 4,999 4,961*
    Per 100,000 workers 3.7 3.4 3.4 3.6 3.5*
Private industry total recordable cases@ 5,215,600 4,700,600 4,365,200 4,257,300 4,214,200
    Per 200,000 hours 5.7 5.3 5.0 4.8 4.6
Private industry cases with days away from work@ 1,537,600 1,436,200 1,315,900 1,259,300 1,234,700
    Per 200,000 hours 1.7 1.6 1.5 1.4 1.4
Off-the-job deaths† 43,000 44,700 42,300 44,100 49,300
    Per 200,000 OTJ
    hours 		0.016 0.017 0.016 0.016 0.018
Off-the-job disabling injuries† 6,800,000 7,100,000 6,500,000 6,800,000 8,200,000
    Per 200,000 OTJ
    hours 		2.6 2.7 2.4 2.5 3.0
Population 285,102,075 287,941,220 290,788,976 293,655,404 296,410,404
Workers 136,246,000 137,731,000 139,988,000 140,504,000 142,946,000
Vehicle-miles travel (millions) 2,797,287 2,855,508 2,890,450 2,962,491 2,966,895
By Venue or Class
Motor-Vehicle 43,788 45,380 44,757 45,300 45,800
    Deaths per 100,000
    population		 15.4 15.8 15.4 15.4 15.5
Work 5,042 4,726 4,725 4,999 4,961
    Deaths per 100,000
    population		 1.8 1.6 1.6 1.7 1.7
Home & Community 55,000 58,900 62,000 64,000 64,600
    Deaths per 100,000
    population		 19.2 20.4 21.3 21.8 21.8
Home 33,200 36,400 38,800 40,000 37,000
    Deaths per 100,000
    population		 11.6 12.6 13.3 13.6 12.5
Public 21,800 22,500 23,200 24,000 27,600
    Deaths per 100,000
    population		 7.6 7.8 8.0 8.2 9.3
By Type of Event
Falls 15,019 16,257 17,229 17,500 17,700
    Deaths per 100,000
    population		 5.3 5.6 5.9 6.0 6.0
Poisoning 14,078 17,550 19,457 20,000 20,900
    Deaths per 100,000
    population		 4.9 6.4 6.7 6.8 7.1
Choking** 4,185 4,128 4,272 4,500 4,600
    Deaths per 100,000
    population		 1.5 1.4 1.5 1.5 1.6
Drowning 3,281 3,447 3,306 3,600 3,600
    Deaths per 100,000
    population		 1.2 1.2 1.1 1.2 1.2
Fires, flames, smoke 3,309 3,159 3,369 3,600 3,100
    Deaths per 100,000
    population		 1.2 1.1 1.2 1.2 1.0
Mechanical suffocation 1,370 1,389 1,309 1,400 1,400
    Deaths per 100,000
    population		 0.5 0.5 0.4 0.5 0.5
Firearms 802 762 730 750 730
    Deaths per 100,000
    population		 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.2
By Age Group
0-4 years old 2,690 2,587 2,662 2,600 2,400
    Deaths per 100,000
    population		 13.9 13.2 13.5 13.0 11.8
5-14 years old 2,836 2,718 2,618 2,700 2,500
    Deaths per 100,000
    population		 6.9 6.6; 6.4 6.6 6.2
15-24 years old 14,411 15,412 15,272 15,300 15,200
    Deaths per 100,000
    population		 36.1 37.9 37.0 36.7 36.1
25-44 years old 27,784 29,279 29,307 29,500 30,200
    Deaths per 100,000
    population		 32.7 34.7 34.8 35.1 36.0
45-64 years old 21,002 23,020 25,007 25,800 26,800
    Deaths per 100,000
    population		 32.6 34.6 36.4 36.5 36.8
65-74 years old 7,835 8,086 8,081 8,200 8,200
    Deaths per 100,000
    population		 42.8 44.2 44.0 44.7 44.0
75 years and older 24,979 25,640 26,330 27,900 27,700
    Deaths per 100,000
    population		 146.8 148.2 149.6 156.3 152.6

Source: National Safety Council, Injury Facts, 2007 Edition, and Bureau of Labor Statistics, Bureau of the Census, Federal Highway Administration, National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).

Note: n/a means not available. Dash (—) indicates data omitted.

#2001-2003 from NCHS; 2004-2005 NSC estimates. Motor-Vehicle total Includes both traffic and nontraffic deaths.

Δ Due to changes in the injury and poisoning section of the National Health Interview Survey, imputation of unknown dates of injury and poisoning episodes, and the use of a 5-week period rather than a 3-month recall period to calculate annualized estimates, estimates for 2004 are not comparable to estimates from prior years.

*Preliminary.

@ Record keeping and survey changes may affect comparisons from year to year. BLS Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses estimates cover private sector employers (about 78% of all workers).

†Includes deaths and injuries of workers when they are not working.

**Inhalation or ingestion of food or object obstructing breathing.

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