You are here

Article Text

Article menu
Download PDFPDF
Original research
WISQARS Cost of Injury for public health research and practice
  1. Cora Peterson,
  2. Ketra L Rice,
  3. Dionne D Williams,
  4. Robert Thomas
  1. National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
  1. Correspondence to Dr Cora Peterson, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, USA; cora.peterson{at}cdc.hhs.gov

Abstract

Aim Since 2011 the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Web-based Injury Statistics Query and Reporting System (WISQARS) has demonstrated per-injury average and population total medical and non-medical costs of injuries by type (such as unintentional cut/pierce) in the USA. This article describes the impact of data and methods changes in the newest version of WISQARS Cost of Injury.

Methods Data sources and methods were compared for the legacy version of the WISQARS Cost of Injury website (available 2011–2021; most recent prior update was published in 2014 with 2010 injury incidence and costs) and the new version (published 2021; 2015-present injury incidence and costs). Cost data sources were updated for the new website and the basis for medical costs and non-fatal injury work loss costs changed from mathematical modelling (combined estimates from multiple data sources) in the legacy website to statistical modelling of actual injury-related medical and work loss financial transactions in the new website. Monetary valuation of non-medical costs for injury deaths changed from lost employment income and household work in the legacy website to value of statistical life. Quality of life loss costs were added for non-fatal injuries. Per-injury average medical and non-medical costs by injury type (mechanism and intent) and total population injury costs were compared for years 2010 (legacy website data) and 2020 (new website data) to illustrate the impact of data and methods changes on reported costs in the context of changed annual injury incidence.

Results Owing to more comprehensive cost capture yielding higher per-injury average costs for most injury types—including those with high incidence in 2020 such as unintentional poisoning and unintentional falls—reported total US medical and non-medical injury costs were substantially higher in 2020 (US$4.6 trillion) compared with 2010 (US$693 billion) (both 2020 USD).

Conclusions and relevance New data and methods increased the injury costs reported in WISQARS Cost of Injury. Researchers and public health professionals can use this information to proficiently communicate the burden of injuries and violence in terms of economic cost.

  • economic analysis
  • costs
  • mechanism

Data availability statement

Data are available in a public, open access repository. Data are accessible at https://www.cdc.gov/injury/wisqars/index.html.

https://doi.org/10.1136/ip-2022-044708

Statistics from Altmetric.com

    Request Permissions

    If you wish to reuse any or all of this article please use the link below which will take you to the Copyright Clearance Center’s RightsLink service. You will be able to get a quick price and instant permission to reuse the content in many different ways.

    Data availability statement

    Data are available in a public, open access repository. Data are accessible at https://www.cdc.gov/injury/wisqars/index.html.

    View Full Text

    Footnotes

    • Collaborators Ketra Rice ORCID 0000-0003-2921-4507

    • Contributors CP led and KLR, DDW and RT assisted with the study design and interpretation of results. CP and KLR conducted data analysis. CP drafted the manuscript. All authors edited the manuscript and approved the final manuscript as submitted. CP is responsible for the overall content as guarantor.

    • Funding The authors have not declared a specific grant for this research from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.

    • Competing interests None declared.

    • Patient and public involvement Patients and/or the public were not involved in the design, or conduct, or reporting, or dissemination plans of this research.

    • Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.

    • Supplemental material This content has been supplied by the author(s). It has not been vetted by BMJ Publishing Group Limited (BMJ) and may not have been peer-reviewed. Any opinions or recommendations discussed are solely those of the author(s) and are not endorsed by BMJ. BMJ disclaims all liability and responsibility arising from any reliance placed on the content. Where the content includes any translated material, BMJ does not warrant the accuracy and reliability of the translations (including but not limited to local regulations, clinical guidelines, terminology, drug names and drug dosages), and is not responsible for any error and/or omissions arising from translation and adaptation or otherwise.