摘要：Objectives. We estimated the contribution of nonfatal work-related injuries on the injury burden among working-age adults (aged 18–64 years) in the United States. Methods. We used the 1997–1999 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) to estimate injury rates and proportions of work-related vs non–work-related injuries. Results. An estimated 19.4 million medically treated injuries occurred annually to working-age adults (11.7 episodes per 100 persons; 95% confidence interval [CI]=11.3, 12.1); 29%, or 5.5 million (4.5 per 100 persons; 95% CI=4.2, 4.7), occurred at work and varied by gender, age, and race/ethnicity. Among employed persons, 38% of injuries occurred at work, and among employed men aged 55–64 years, 49% of injuries occurred at work. Conclusions. Injuries at work comprise a substantial part of the injury burden, accounting for nearly half of all injuries in some age groups. The NHIS provides an important source of population-based data with which to determine the work relatedness of injuries. Study estimates of days away from work after injury were 1.8 times higher than the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) workplace-based estimates and 1.4 times as high as BLS estimates for private industry. The prominence of occupational injuries among injuries to working-age adults reinforces the need to examine workplace conditions in efforts to reduce the societal impact of injuries. In 1997, an estimated 34.4 million medically treated injuries and poisonings occurred in the United States—a rate of 12.9 episodes per 100 persons. 1 Injuries to working-age adults, which represent an important part of this injury burden, are often overlooked despite having a larger economic impact than injuries to other age groups. 2 Until recently, comparable national data that distinguished work-related from non–work-related injuries were not available on the incidence and types of injuries to working-age adults. Moreover, existing workplace-based reporting systems may substantially underestimate occupational injuries. 3 – 23 When adjustment is made for underreporting, annual estimates of nonfatal work-related injuries in the United States range from 6 million to 13 million. 3 , 5 No comprehensive national data exist on nonfatal work-related injuries or even work-related injury hospitalizations. 12 – 14 The National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) is one of the most important tools for monitoring the health of the US population. 24 – 27 It recently has been revised to improve the quality of data collected on injuries and includes work relatedness. 1 This revision now provides an opportunity to examine all injuries to adults in the US population and to assess those occurring at work, independent of workplace reporting. We used data from the redesigned NHIS for 1997–1999 to examine the contribution of nonfatal injuries at work to the total injury burden of working-age adults (aged 18–64 years).
