Comparison of urban and rural non-fatal injury: the results of a statewide survey

Abstract

Objectives: This study compared the epidemiology of non-fatal injury among urban and rural residents of Colorado. Design: A stratified probability sample with random digit dial methods was used to survey Colorado residents by telephone regarding injuries experienced in the last 12 months. Questions on the cause of the injury, the activity at the time of the injury, and the place of injury were based on the Nordic Medico Statistical Committee's (NOMESCO) classification of external causes of injuries. Subjects: A total of 1425 urban and 1275 rural Colorado residents aged 18 and older were interviewed. Results: Age, gender, marital status, and rural residency were found to increase the odds of self reported injury. The adjusted odds ratio for self reported injury was 1.3 (95% confidence interval (CI) 1.01 to 1.68) for rural compared with urban residents. Rural residence (odds ratio 1.02, 95% CI 0.51 to 7.01) was not a risk factor for injury among the highest risk group, those who were single and never married. No differences in injury characteristics were found by urban-rural status. Conclusions: The increased odds of self reported injury among rural residents were not explained by differences in the causes of injury or other injury characteristics. The differences in the importance of rural residence in increased odds of injury by marital status warrants further understanding and may be important in the development of injury prevention programs. Based on comparison with a similar survey, the NOMESCO coding system appears to be a viable alternative survey tool for gathering information on injury characteristics.

Disability, environmental factors and non-fatal injury

“…The estimated rate of non-fatal self-reported injury for this population was 13.6% (95% CI 11.8% to 15.5%) (table 2), similar to that reported for the whole population (14.7%, 95% CI 12.9% to 16.5%) 11. Disability status (p<0.05) and environmental factors (p<0.001) were both associated with injury.…”

“…Survey methods and sampling design, which have been reported elsewhere,5 8 11 followed procedures used by the Behavioural Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) 12. Households were identified through random-digit dial procedures; one adult, age 18 years and older, was randomly chosen from each household to participate.…”

Prescription opioid poisoning across urban and rural areas: identifying vulnerable groups and geographic areas

“…The concentration of manual labor industries in the zip code was used as a proxy for medical need for POs due to work-place-related physical injury, as areas with a higher proportion of individuals involved in manual labor have higher rates of self-reported injury and chronic pain [15]. Zip Code Business Patterns data provided counts of business locations in six industries that involve manual labor: agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting (sector 11); mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction (sector 21); construction (sector 23); manufacturing (sectors 31–33); wholesale trade (sector 42); and transportation, warehousing and utilities (sectors 22, 48–49) [16].…”

Association between traumatic brain injury and incarceration: a population-based cohort study

“…Covariates were selected a priori based on their associations with TBI and/or incarceration 5,25,[33][34][35][36][37][38][39] and their availability in administrative data. Age, sex and rurality (residential postal code) were extracted from the Registered Persons Database.…”