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Affiliation
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Virginia Mason Medical Center , 1100 Ninth Avenue , Seattle, Washington, United States , 98040 ; neil.hampson@vmmc.org. |
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Abstract
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Rationale - Carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning accounts for hundreds of deaths and thousands of emergency department visits in the US annually. Development of initiatives to reduce CO mortality through poisoning prevention requires a comprehensive understanding of the condition.
OBJECTIVEs - To describe US mortality from CO poisoning from 1999-2014 from all sources except fires, examine epidemiology of accidental and intentional exposures, and identify trends.
METHODS - CDC Wonder was used to extract and analyze data from the CDC file "Multiple Cause of Death 1999-2014." The file contains mortality data from all death certificates filed in the US. Measurements and Main Results - Deaths, crude death rate (CDR), age-adjusted death rate (ADR), intent of exposure, and characteristics of exposures from CO poisoning. Total CO deaths decreased from 1,967 in 1999 to 1,319 in 2014 (p<0.001). CDR and ADR fell accordingly. Accidental poisoning accounted for 13% fewer deaths per year in 2014 than 1999 (p<0.001). The number of intentional CO deaths decreased 47% over the same time period (p<0.001). The rate of decline in combined ADRs from 1999-2014 in the 19 states that required residential CO alarms by 2010 was not different from the 31 that did not (p=0.982).
CONCLUSIONS - Numbers of deaths and death rates, both accidental and intentional, from CO poisoning significantly declined in the US from 1999-2014. Continued public education about CO should be emphasized. Additional study is needed to demonstrate the efficacy of residential CO alarms.
Language: en |