title: Trends in reporting injury as a cause of death among people with epilepsy in the U.S., 1981-2010.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To examine trends in reporting injury as a cause of death among people with epilepsy in the U.S. during the past three decades.
  
  
  METHODS
  We analyzed the U.S. multiple causes of death data from death certificates in 1981-2010 to compare rate and odds ratios (OR) of reporting injury as cause of death among cases with vs. without mention of epilepsy across years.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The trends in reporting epilepsy with and without injury were similar in most age groups but were inconsistent in most external causes of injury. The OR of reporting injury was 1.02 (95% confidence intervals (CI) 0.97-1.07) in 1981-1985 and decreased to 0.52 (95% CI 0.48-0.55) in 2006-2010. The decline in OR was prominent among people aged 15-24 followed by people aged 25-44. For the five external causes of injury, the OR of suffocation and drowning were 6.32 (95% CI 5.91-6.75) and 5.64 (95% CI 5.16-6.16) in 1981-1985 and decreased to 3.03 (95% CI 2.74-3.35) and 2.56 (95% CI 2.18-3.00) in 2006-2010. The OR for poisoning and traffic crashes were 0.70 (95% CI 0.57-0.85) and 0.08 (95% CI 0.07-0.09) in 1981-1985 and 0.21 (95% CI 0.18-0.25) and 0.06 (95% CI 0.05-0.08) in 2006-2010.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The risk of fatal injury among people with epilepsy decreased drastically during the past three decades in most age groups and for most external causes of injury except falls. People with epilepsy had lower risks of dying from injury due to poisoning or traffic crashes, had higher risks of dying from suffocation and drowning.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Chi Mei Medical Center, Tainan, Taiwan; Department of Biotechnology, Southern Taiwan University of Science and Technology, Tainan, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Chia-Yu
authors.initials: CY
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Tsung-Hsueh
authors.initials: TH
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Chi Mei Medical Center, Tainan, Taiwan; Department of Occupational Safety/Institute of Industrial Safety and Disaster Prevention, College of Sustainable Environment, Chia Nan University of Pharmacy and Science, Tainan, Taiwan. Electronic address: tjcheng@mail.chimei.org.tw.
authors.forename: Tain-Junn
authors.initials: TJ
authors.lastname: Cheng
mesh_terms: D000063:Accidents, Traffic; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002423:Cause of Death; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003644:Death Certificates; D004827:Epilepsy / Q000209:etiology / Q000401:mortality*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D014481:United States; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000401:mortality*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Accidents; Cause of death; Death certificate; Epilepsy; Injury; Mortality