Injuries and Injury Prevention

Injury (definition)

Harm to the body from an acute transfer of energy beyond physiological tolerance (mechanical, chemical, thermal) or lack of vital elements (drowning, freezing)

Are injuries accidents?

No; they are not accidents. They are preventable, public health problems shaped by behavior and the physical and social environment

Injuries: rank as cause of death overall

3rd leading cause of death overall

Injuries: leading cause of death for ages 1-44

Injuries are the leading cause of death for ages 1-44

Unintentional injury deaths for ages 1-44

Fell for ages 1-44 after a 2021 peak; poisoning is the leading cause

Haddon Matrix

A tool to conceptualize injury prevention at multiple levels

Haddon Matrix: columns

Host, agent, physical environment, social and policy environment

Haddon Matrix: rows

Pre-event, event, post-event

Haddon Matrix: pre-event

Primary prevention

Haddon Matrix: event

Secondary prevention

Haddon Matrix: post-event

Tertiary prevention

Occupational injury trend

Deaths fell from about 21,000 (1913) to 5,147 (2017)

Drivers of the decline in occupational deaths

Laws, OSHA enforcement, workers' comp, unions, shift to less physical work

Great Molasses Flood (1919)

Spurred engineering regulation

Opioid/poisoning trend

Peaked early 2020s, declining since; men have higher counts, but women have steeper rises; naloxone and treatment matter

Motor vehicle death trend

Deaths dropped since the 1970s-80s; a success story, but more recent resurgence is a concern

Mild TBI: typical symptom duration

Symptoms usually resolve within 30 days

Persistent post-concussive symptoms

Symptoms that last more than 30 days

TBI underreporting

Underreported in NFL players and IPV survivors

Children's concussions

About half are sports related

Injury equity

Everyone can be injured, but risk and recovery vary by race, gender, SES, neighborhood, and healthcare access