Surveillance of injury morbidity

Abstract

Injury surveillance data can be analyzed for a variety of purposes including: detecting injury trends, measuring the size of the problem, identifying high-risk populations, projecting resource needs, establishing priorities, developing prevention strategies, supporting prevention activities, and evaluating prevention efforts. Nonfatal injury contributes much to the burden of injury, as only a small proportion of injuries result in death. Nonfatal injuries differ from fatal injuries not only in their magnitude but also in their attributes. This chapter complements the chapter on surveillance of injury mortality and emphasizes issues relevant to the surveillance of nonfatal injuries using existing data systems. Several issues concerning injury morbidity surveillance are described and discussed including: data sources, classification, definitions, presentation and dissemination, evaluation and improvement, and future directions. Examples and issues described in the chapter, unless otherwise noted, focus on surveillance in the USA.