INTENTIONAL AND UNINTENTIONAL INJURY IN THE STATE OF NEVADA - 1989-1992

Introduction: Data from a large population-based trauma registry were used to assess risk factors and outcomes associated with injuries that were either caused unintentionally, were self-inflicted, or resulted from an assault. Design: A retrospective analysis was conducted of all cases of serious trauma (N = 19,505) occurring in the State of Nevada during the 4-year period from January 1, 1989, through December 31, 1 992. The outcome measures of interest were Injury Severity Score, hosp italization, and mortality. Results: Of all patients with unintentiona l injuries, 9.9% died compared with 44.8% of those whose injuries were intentionally caused. Nearly half (49.0%) of all deaths occurred in p ersons who were intentionally injured. Of the intentional injuries, 70 % were from assaults. Self-inflicted injuries accounted for 5.2% of al l injuries but 28.2% of the deaths in the registry. Firearms were most often used in both assaults (38.8%) and self-inflicted injuries (87.4 %). Logistic regressions showed that, compared with unintentional inju ries, assaults were more likely to occur in urban counties, among male s, African Americans, and young adults. Also, compared with unintentio nal injuries, self-inflicted injuries were more likely to occur in urb an counties, among Caucasian, and the 65+ age group. Conclusion: Altho ugh the overwhelming number of injuries in the registry were unintenti onally caused, deaths from intentionally caused injuries accounted for almost half of all deaths. The data from Nevada's registry provided t he ability to identify who is at risk for trauma-related injury and de ath. Prevention programs should be designed to target these population s. As prevention programs are implemented, trauma registries such as N evada's will provide a sound source of data for assessing long-term tr ends in injury patterns.