Citation

Peterson AB, Sarmiento K, Xu L, Haileyesus T. J. Saf. Res. 2019; 71: 315-318.

Affiliation

Division of Analysis, Research, and Practice Integration, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control - CDC, United States.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2019, U.S. National Safety Council, Publisher Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.jsr.2019.09.017

PMID

31862042

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: Despite progress, injury remains the leading cause of preventable death for American Indian and Alaska Natives (AI/AN), aged 1 to 44. There are few publications on injuries among the AI/AN population, especially those on traumatic brain injury (TBI). A TBI can cause short- or long-term changes in cognition, communication, and/or emotion.

METHODS: To describe changes over time in TBI incidence by mechanism of injury, injury intent, and age group among AI/ANs, the CDC analyzed hospitalization and death data from the 2008-2014 Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP) National Inpatient Sample (NIS) and the National Vital Statistics System (NVSS), respectively.

RESULTS: From 2008-2014, the incidence of TBI-related hospitalizations increased by 32% (1,477 in 2008 to 1,945 in 2014) and resulted in a 21% increase in age-adjusted rates of people hospitalized with TBI. TBI-related deaths increased in number (569 in 2008 to 644 in 2014) and age-adjusted rate (22.7 in 2008 to 25.4 in 2014) by approximately 13% and 12%, respectively. Motor-vehicle crashes were the leading cause of TBI-related deaths among AI/ANs aged 0-54 years. Practical application: Prevention efforts should focus on increasing motor-vehicle safety and advancing prevention strategies for other leading causes of TBI, including: falls, intentional self-harm, and assaults.

Copyright © 2019 National Safety Council and Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Language: en

Keywords

Alaskan native; American Indian; Traumatic brain injury; nonfatal and fatal injury