Injuries among US adults with disabilities.
BACKGROUND
Injury prevention among individuals with disabilities is understudied. We compared the patterns of medically treated injuries among US adults with and without disabilities for clues to prevention.


METHODS
We used nationally representative data from the 2004-2005 National Health Interview Survey to compare medically attended injuries within the past 3 months among noninstitutionalized adults in the United States with no disabilities, moderate disabilities, and severe disabilities. The association between disability and injuries was examined in logistic regression analysis, taking into account sociodemographic factors.


RESULTS
The 3-month cumulative incidence of injuries was 2.3% (95% confidence interval [CI] = 2.2%-2.4%) among adults with no disabilities, 3.8% (3.4%-4.2%) among adults with moderate disabilities, and 5.6% (4.9%-6.3%) among adults with severe disabilities. Falls were the leading mechanism of injury regardless of disability status, and were even more common in the severely or moderately disabled adults (68% and 47% respectively, compared with 28% among those without disabilities). The setting of the injury also differed with disability status. For the severely disabled, 57% (CI = 52%-62%) of injury episodes occurred at home, compared with only 32% (28%-37%) for the moderately disabled and 23% (21%-25%) for adults with no disabilities.


CONCLUSIONS
Adults with disabilities are at an increased risk for injury. Programs specifically directed toward injury prevention may benefit adults with disabilities.
Brophy
Megan
M
Center for Injury Research and Policy, The Research Institute of Nationwide Children's Hospital, The Ohio State University College of Medicine, Columbus, OH 43205, USA.
Zhang
Xiaofei
X
Xiang
Huiyun
H
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D006233:Persons with Disabilities / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D018570:Risk Assessment; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000517:prevention & control