Occupational Injury and Illness Requiring Hospitalization

Details

• Personal Author:
  Chen GX ; Jackson, Larry L. ; Layne LA
• Description:
  An estimated 3.6 million workers aged >/= 15 sought medical treatment in a hospital emergency department (ED) for an occupational injury or illness in the United States during 1998, as measured by a national probability , sample of hospitals. Ninety-eight percent of the workers were discharged from the ED, while 2% (77,246 +/-19,190, 95% confidence interval) were hospitalized for additional medical care. Workers hospitalized show significant differences (p<0.01) by sex, age, and injury demographics compared to the ED-discharged. Hospitalized patients were 85% male (65,571+/-16,582) and 15% female (11,675+/-3,397), whereas the ED-discharged were 70% male and 30% female. The hospitalized age-specific incident rates were higher among older patients, 10.4/10,000 workers for ages >/= 60 years compared to 6.2 for the <60. The ED-discharged incident rates steadily decreased with age. Injuries to the head, upper trunk/chest, and leg regions among the hospitalized showed more than a 2-fold increase in the proportion of cases, while amputations increased 14-fold, fractures 7-fold, and blunt head trauma 4-fold. By type of incident, falls from height accounted for 19% of the hospitalized cases, with falls from roofs increasing 19-fold, scaffolding 9-fold, and ladders 4-fold. Caught or compressed in equipment accounted for 12% of the hospitalized cases. Atypical chest pain (3%) and pedestrians struck by vehicles (2%) proportionately increased 14- and 7-fold. In conclusion, prevention of hospitalized nonfatal work events should focus in areas such as fall protection and machine guarding, similar to fatal prevention rather than areas dictated by most nonfatal incidents. Description provided by NIOSH
• Subjects:
  • Accidents, Occupational
  • Age Factors
  • Aging
  • Occupational Exposure
  • Occupational Health
  • Occupational Injuries
  • Safety
• Keywords:
  • Injuries
  • Accident rates
  • Accident analysis
  • Occupational hazards
  • Occupational accidents
  • Machine guarding
  • Age factors
  • Age groups
• ISSN:
  0002-9262
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Abstract or Summary
• Place as Subject:
  OSHA Region 3 ; West Virginia
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  DSR - Division of Safety Research
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Volume:
  153
• Issue:
  11
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20021361
• Citation:
  Am J Epidemiol 2001 Jun; 153(11)(Suppl):S76
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2001
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Source Full Name:
  American Journal of Epidemiology
• Supplement:
  Suppl
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/198715/cdc_198715_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 98.78 KB]
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:d09385e71382063115efdda9ccd6bbc4746de3714a035ebd4e0b61766dc0036d5f545ace7fedfefa92b526719053bddb2c1a3ce540503164d2b8e8fd4877a070