Citation

Heinen M, McGee KS, Warner MA. Inj. Prev. 2004; 10(6): 327-329.

Affiliation

Office of Analysis and Epidemiology, National Center for Health Statistics, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Hyattsville, Maryland, USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2004, BMJ Publishing Group)

DOI

10.1136/ip.2004.005991

PMID

15583251

PMCID

PMC1730162

Abstract

Household surveys are used around the world to gather information on many health related topics including non-fatal injuries. Household surveys can produce population based estimates of injuries that may stand on their own or may supplement surveillance systems tied to medical care. They are not subject to the same biases as medical records reviews. For example, household surveys can obtain a wealth of detail on the circumstances of the injury, which are often not in the medical record, and they can capture injuries that were not medically treated. They are, however, subject to different types of bias such as non-response and recall bias.

National estimates of non-fatal injuries can be derived based on the responses to specific questions about injuries. Estimates are often compared across countries despite the fact that the injury screening questions and inclusion criteria vary between countries.