Injury Explore Module Help

The WISQARS Injury Explore module allows users to run simple, customizable queries to produce interactive visualizations with fatal and nonfatal injury data such as

• Causes of fatal and nonfatal injuries interactive chart
• Interactive U.S. map of injury-related deaths
• Interactive charts showing distribution of fatal injuries by sex, age, race, and ethnicity
• Interactive charts showing distribution of nonfatal injuries by disposition, sex, and age.

The process for customizing queries and selecting output options is briefly described below.

Getting Started

To customize the visualizations displayed when you access the module, you will begin by clicking the "Change Filters" button near the top, right of the screen.

The Data Filters screen will allow you to make some key decisions about the data you want to view—such as data years, geography, intent, mechanism, and demographic variables—to create visualizations.

Some choices may affect the other data filter options that are available. For example, race and ethnicity options are only available when you select "fatal" under "injury outcome". Below is a list of the data options available.

Data Filters: Injury Outcome

This section allows you to specify the type of injury outcome for which data are to be generated. One of the following two injury outcomes must be selected:

• Fatal: This option refers to injury-related deaths for which a death certificate was filed in a state vital statistics office and then submitted to the National Center for Health Statistics for inclusion in the National Vital Statistics System.
• Nonfatal: This option refers to patients initially treated for a nonfatal unintentional or violence-related injury in a United States hospital emergency department (ED). The source of the data used to estimate the number of injury-related ED visits is the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System – All Injury Program (NEISS-AIP).

Data Filters: Year and Race Options

Only available for fatal data

This option allows you to request fatal injury visualizations by several race and ethnicity categories.

From data year 2001 to 2020, WISQARS used bridged race categories: White, Black, American Indian/Alaska Native, and Asian/Pacific Islander.

Beginning with data year 2018, WISQARS' fatal injury reports includes data for the current U.S. Census Bureau's six single race categories: White, Black or African American, American Indian or Alaskan Native, Asian, Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander, and More than One Race.

When exploring fatal data, users have the option to choose one of the following categories depending on the data year(s) and race categories they wish to view:

No Race Categories (available for data years 2001-present):

• 2001 – 2021 with No Race excludes race as a filter category so users can look at trends across all available data years. This is the default view.

Bridged Race Category (available for data years 2001-2020):

• 2001 – 2020 by Bridged Race allows you to see the previous bridged race categories: White, Black or African American, American Indian or Alaskan Native, and Asian or Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander.

Single Race Categories (available for data years 2018-present):

• 2018 – 2021 by Single Race allows you to see the current six single race categories: White, Black or African American, American Indian or Alaskan Native, Asian, Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander, and More than One Race.
• 2018 – 2021 by Single Race (Asian/HI Native/Pacific Islander combined) allows you to see the current single race categories with Asian and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander as one combined race category.

Data Filters: Intent

This option allows you to request visualizations by intent of injury. Intent of injury is whether an injury was caused by an act carried out on purpose by oneself or by another person(s), with the goal of injuring or killing.

Users can select the intent of injury from the dropdown menu under "Intent". The intent categories for injury-related deaths are:

• All Intents
• Unintentional
• Violence related (homicide, legal intervention, suicide)
• Undetermined

The intent categories for nonfatal injuries initially treated in a United States hospital ED are:

• All intents
• Unintentional (includes undetermined)
• Violence related (assaults, legal intervention, self-harm)

Data Filters: Mechanism

This option allows you to request fatal and nonfatal injury reports by mechanism (cause) of injury. The cause, or mechanism, of injury is the way in which the person sustained the injury; how the person was injured; or the process by which the injury occurred.

Users can select the cause or mechanism of injury (e.g., firearm, poisoning) from the dropdown menu under "Mechanism".

Fatal - There are 28 mechanism categories for injury-related deaths. Of those, adverse effects overall, fire/burn, poisoning, transport-related overall, motor vehicle - traffic, pedal cyclist, and pedestrian mechanisms have options that allow the user to run more detailed queries.

Nonfatal - There are 18 reportable mechanism categories for injuries resulting in hospitalization subsequent to ED treatment or injuries resulting in an ED visit followed by release (without hospitalization or other transfer). Of those, the transportation mechanism has options that allow the user to run more detailed queries.

Data Filters: Disposition

Only available for nonfatal data

This option allows you to request nonfatal injury reports by disposition or where the individual was moved to after being admitted to the Emergency Department. This could help measure on severity of each case from the physician perspective. One of the following dispositions must be selected:

• Treated and Release: This option refers to patients treated for an injury in a United States hospital emergency department and then released without being hospitalized or transferred for specialized physical or psychological care.
• Transferred: This option refers to patients initially treated for an injury in a United States hospital emergency department and then transferred for specialized physical or psychological care.
• Hospitalized: This option refers to patients initially treated for an injury in a United States hospital emergency department and then hospitalized for specialized physical or psychological care.
• Observed/Left AMA/Unknown: This option refers to patients that were held for observation due to an injury in a United States hospital emergency department, left against medical advice, or the disposition is unknown.

Data Filters: Years of Potential Life Lost (YPLL)

Years of potential life lost (YPLL) is a measure of premature mortality (early death). YPLL is calculated by subtracting the age at death from the standard year you select, and then summing the individual YPLL across each cause of death.

The option "Calculate YPLL before Age" is only available when you select "fatal" under "injury outcome" and allows you to select the standard age from which the years of potential life lost (YPLL) is calculated. The default choice is 65. This option also offers older ages in five-year increments up to age 85 (70, 75, 80, 85).

Note YPLL calculation does not include people who died at the standard age or older. For instance, choosing 65 as the standard age excludes people who died at age 65 or older from the calculation of YPLL-65.

Data Filters: Metro/Non-Metro Indicator

Only available for fatal data

This option allows you to focus on the degree of urbanization by selecting Metro or Non-Metro.

WISQARS's source for the metro/nonmetro urbanization variable is the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS') 2013 Urban-Rural Classification Scheme for Counties. Each county is classified within one of six categories based on their size or estimated population. The large central metro classification is the most "urban" category, and the noncore classification is the most "rural" category.

• The large central metro category contains counties in metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) of one million or more population that have been identified by NCHS classification rules as central because they contain all or part of a principal city of the area.
• The large fringe metro category contains the remaining counties (similar to suburbs) in MSAs of one million or more.
• Counties in MSAs of 250,000 to 999,999 population are assigned to the medium metro category.
• Counties in MSAs with populations under 250,000 are assigned to the small metro category.
• Nonmetropolitan counties that are designated by the Office of Management and Budget as belonging to a micropolitan statistical area are assigned to the micropolitan category.
• The remaining nonmetropolitan counties are assigned to the noncore category.

WISQARS collapses these six urbanization categories into a bi-level "metro/nonmetro indicator" variable.

The counties assigned as metro include:

• Large Central Metro
• Large Fringe Metro
• Medium Metro
• Small Metro

and those assigned as nonmetro include:

• Micropolitan, and
• Noncore