title: Spinal cord injury incidence in Mississippi: a capture-recapture approach.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Many studies have investigated spinal cord injury incidence rates. Few, however, have adjusted for the underascertainment. The current study used the capture-recapture method to estimate the ascertainment-corrected spinal cord injury incidence rate in Mississippi.
  
  
  METHODS
  Two sources were used for case ascertainment: Mississippi's spinal cord injury registry and hospital reports. The two-sample capture-recapture method was used to adjust for undercount.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Two hundred one spinal cord injuries were reported to or found by the Mississippi State Department of Health in 1993, with a crude incidence rate of 7.8 per 100,000 population per year among hospital admissions and prehospital fatalities. Using the two-sample capture-recapture method, it is estimated that the incidence rate would be 9.3 per 100,000 population per year.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Capture-recapture estimates suggest that Mississippi's spinal cord injury incidence rate is more than twice the national average.
authors.affiliation: Division of Epidemiology, Mississippi State Department of Health, Jackson, USA.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Surkin
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Penman
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Currier
authors.forename: H L
authors.initials: HL
authors.lastname: Harkey
authors.forename: Y F
authors.initials: YF
authors.lastname: Chang
mesh_terms: D004812:Epidemiologic Methods; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008922:Mississippi / Q000453:epidemiology; D011159:Population Surveillance; D013119:Spinal Cord Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology*