Fatal and nonfatal unintentional injuries in adult women, United States.

Abstract

Although we know that injury death rates are lower for women than for men at all ages, we still have a long way to go in exploring the impact of unintentional injuries on women's lives. This paper reviews the leading causes of unintentional injury death and nonfatal injuries for adult women. It also explores selected activities of the Division of Unintentional Injury Prevention (CDC's National Center for Injury Prevention). Data come from the Web-based Injury Statistics Query and Reporting System (WISQARS). Mortality data for the system come from the National Center for Health Statistics (CDC's annual mortality data files). Nonfatal injury data for the system come from the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS). Unintentional injuries are the leading cause of death for women ages 18-34 and the eighth leading cause of death for adult women overall. In 2001, 31,400 adult women died as a result of unintentional injuries. Incidents related to motor vehicle traffic were the leading cause of unintentional injury death for women aged 18-74 years. Falls were the leading cause of unintentional injury deaths among women aged 75 years and older. In 2002, unintentional injuries accounted for over 8.6 million emergency department visits for adult women. The leading cause of nonfatal unintentional injury for adult women aged 25 years and older was fall related. Unintentional injury creates an enormous burden on the lives of women. Moving forward in reducing the burden of unintentional injury requires assessing and understanding the impact of these injuries on the lives of women. Further work is needed to develop a strong context and framework for research and dissemination.