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Evaluation of a state based syndromic surveillance system for the classification and capture of non‐fatal occupational injuries and illnesses in New Jersey
Author(s) -
Borjan Marija,
Lumia Margaret
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
american journal of industrial medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.7
H-Index - 104
eISSN - 1097-0274
pISSN - 0271-3586
DOI - 10.1002/ajim.22734
Subject(s) - medicine , emergency department , occupational safety and health , injury surveillance , medical emergency , poison control , injury prevention , medical surveillance , health surveillance , emergency medicine , environmental health , pathology , nursing
Background This preliminary study evaluates a real‐time syndromic surveillance system to track occupationally‐related emergency room visits throughout New Jersey. Methods Emergency Department (ED) chief complaint fields were evaluated from 79 of 80 hospitals in NJ in 2014, using work‐related keywords and ICD‐9 E‐codes, to determine its ability to capture non‐fatal work‐related injuries. Sensitivity analysis and descriptive statistics, were used to evaluate and summarize the occupational injuries identified. Results Overall, 11 919 (0.3%) possible work‐related ED visits were identified from all ED visits. Events with the greatest number of ED visits were slips, trips, and falls (1679, 14%). Nature of injury included cuts, lacerations (1041, 9%). The part of the body most affected was the back (1414, 12%). This work‐related classifier achieved a sensitivity of 5.4%, a specificity of 99.8%, and a PPV of 2.8%. Conclusions This evaluation demonstrated that the syndromic surveillance reporting system can yield real‐time knowledge of work‐related injuries.