Open AccessAn evaluation of external cause-of-injury codes using hospital records from the Indian Health Service, 1985.
Author(s) -
Susan M. Smith,
Lauren Colwell,
Joseph E. Sniezek
Publication year - 1990
Publication title -
american journal of public health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.284
H-Index - 264
eISSN - 1541-0048
pISSN - 0090-0036
DOI - 10.2105/ajph.80.3.279
Subject(s) - external cause , medicine , public health , coding (social sciences) , medical emergency , diagnosis code , hospital records , health records , occupational safety and health , injury prevention , environmental health , poison control , health care , statistics , surgery , nursing , population , mathematics , political science , pathology , law
To evaluate the usefulness of International Classification of Diseases external cause-of-injury and poisoning codes (E codes) for public health surveillance of nonfatal injuries, we analyzed E codes from Indian Health Service (IHS) hospital records. E codes for unknown or unspecified causes were used for 25 percent of records. At two hospitals, 63 percent of E codes assigned by independent coders agreed; another 18 percent matched on general cause-of-injury groups. With uniform guidelines and increased training, E coding could provide a valuable, cost-effective method of quantifying and characterizing severe, nonfatal injuries.