Injury Visits to Emergency Departments and Hospital Discharges in Rhode Island, 2005-2009: Focus on Falls

摘要

The number of emergency department (ED) visits in theUnited States reached 119.2 million visits in 2007. 1 The largestpercentage of these visits was for people with injury-related diagnoses(42.4 million visits),1 with falls accounting for 76% ofthese among adults age 65 and older. 2 Hospital discharge datafor injury-related admissions reflects those patients visiting theED whose injuries were so severe that they warranted admission.Beginning January 1, 2005, hospitals in Rhode Island havereported patient-level data on visits to EDs to the Rhode IslandDepartment of Health.3 This report presents summary informationfor 2005 - 2009 on hospital ED visits and hospital in-patientdischarges in Rhode Island for injuries and poisonings, togetherreferred to as “injuries,” with emphasis on falls.