Abstract

Objective—To determine the rate and causes of hospitalizations for injury among American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) youth in the state of Washington, and to compare this with the rate of hospitalizations for injury among youth of all races.

Methods—Subjects were aged 0–19 years and were admitted to civilian hospitals for care of an injury (International Classification of Diseases N codes 800–995) in Washington between 1990 and 1994. Deaths occurring in the pre-hospital setting and emergency department are not included. Using several fields of identifying information, the Washington state hospital discharge database was linked with the Indian Health Service (IHS) patient registration database to identify AI/AN youth. Denominator data included the total age specific IHS user population for American Indians and US Census derived population estimates. Incidence ratios (IRs) were calculated to compare rates of hospitalization between AI/AN youth and all youth in Washington.

Results—A total of 694 and 29 048 hospitalizations for injury were identified for AI/AN youth and all races, respectively. The rate of hospitalization for injuries among AI/AN youth was 507 discharges per 100 000 youth (IR = 1.30; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.20 to 1.40. The leading mechanism of injury was motor vehicles (IR 1.73, CI 1.49 to 2.01), followed by falls (IR 0.95, CI 0.79 to 1.15), and poisoning (IR 1.20, CI 0.80 to 1.78). The disparity was greater for intentional injuries (IR 1.71, CI 1.44 to 2.04). The highest IR for all unintentional injuries was for injuries from fire (IR 2.35, CI 1.42 to 3.87). AI/AN children aged 15–19 had the greatest disparity for rates of injury hospitalization (IR 1.4, CI 1.25 to 1.56).

Conclusion—AI/AN youth in Washington had a higher hospitalization rate for injury compared with all youth in the state. Disparities were greatest for injuries related to motor vehicles and assaults. When linked, hospital discharge data can be used for surveillance of AI/AN hospitalizations.