title: Methodological challenges in injury epidemiology and injury prevention research.
abstract: In the past decade there has been increasing attention to the public health importance of injuries. Public health agencies seeking to reduce injuries need methods for counting injuries, calculating injury rates, identifying the causes of injuries, and measuring outcomes of interventions. All of these areas present problems for injury epidemiologists and injury prevention programs. This paper provides a framework for classifying these problems into five categories: (a) numerator problems; (b) denominator problems; (c) causation; (d) exposure measurement problems; and (e) multiplicity. For most problems, we identify proven or potential solutions, using examples from the literature of injury epidemiology.
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health and Community Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle 98104-2499, USA.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Cummings
authors.forename: T D
authors.initials: TD
authors.lastname: Koepsell
authors.forename: B A
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Mueller
mesh_terms: D015984:Causality; D004781:Environmental Exposure / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D004812:Epidemiologic Methods; D006801:Humans; D012107:Research Design; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000145:classification / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000517:prevention & control