Citation

Weiss HB, Lawrence BA, Miller TR. Annu. Proc. Assoc. Adv. Automot. Med. 2002; 46: 355-366.

Affiliation

Center for Injury Research and Control, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2002, Association for the Advancement of Automotive Medicine)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

12361519

Abstract

Hospitalized maternal injuries pose a serious threat to the fetus, therefore understanding their burden is important. In addition, this study examined whether the risk of serious injury from crashes changes during pregnancy. Using 1997 hospital discharge data from 19 states, injuries to younger women were classified as motor-vehicle related with and without pregnancy-associated diagnoses. The pregnancy screen identified 1488 motor-vehicle occupant injury discharges (rate=129/100000 person-years, rate-ratio=1.88, 95% CI=1.49, 1.98). Pregnancy-associated cases were younger, their median charge-per-visit and mean ISS were lower and their average length-of-stay was shorter. Once adjusted for severity, the age-specific rate-ratios were not significantly different than one.