2007 COMMUNITY HEALTH DATA ANALYSIS

Unintended Injury

Cape Girardeau County has a lower rate than the state for both hospitalizations related to unintended injuries and outpatient (ER) visits for unintended injuries. The total injury statistics for Cape Girardeau County have remained have decreased by 8.63% from 2000–2005 with most injuries occurring in white males. During this time period the rate of injury due to poison/drug abuse has increased by 21.8% and the rate for weather/wildlife has increased by 3.49%. The rates for fire/burn have decreased by 37.6% from 2000-2005.

Major Types
All of the unintentional injury rates are lower than the state rates. The ranking of the types of unintentional injury from highest to lowest in the categories of death, hospitalization, and ER visits are:

Death: Motor vehicle traffic, falls, fire/burn, poisoning (drugs/alcohol), drowning, firearms, and poisoning (gas/cleaner/caustic)

Hospitalizations: Falls, motor vehicle traffic, poisoning (drugs/alcohol), fire/burn, poisoning (gas/cleaner/caustic), firearm, and drowning.

ER Visits: Falls, motor vehicle, fire/burn, poisoning (drug/alcohol), poisoning (gas/cleaner/caustic), firearms, drowning.

These rankings are consistent with the state rankings.

 Motor Vehicle Traffic: In 2005 the 15–24 year age group has the highest rate of incidence followed by the 25–44 year age group, predominantly white and female. No significant change from 1995–2002.

Firearm: In 2005 the 25–44 year age group has the highest rate of incidence, predominantly white and males. The black population had no incidences of firearm injury in 2005.

Fall: In 2005 the 65 and over age group has the highest rate of incidence followed by the under 15 year age group, predominantly white females. No significant change 2000–2005.

Poison: Drug/Alcohol: The 25–44 year age group has the highest rate of incidence followed by the 15–24 year age group, predominantly white and female. The female rate increased by 15.9%. Although the overall female rate is higher than the male rate, the male population has increased 29.9% from 2000–2005 and this category has had an overall 21.8% increase from 2000–2005.

Poison: Gas/Cleaner/Caustic: In 2005 the 25–44 year age group had the highest rate of incidence followed by the under 15 age group, predominantly white and an almost even rate between males and females. No significant change from 2000–2005.

Fire/Burn: In 2005 the under 15 year age group had the highest rate of incidence followed by the under 25–44 age group, predominantly white and male. Both the male and female population has shown a decreasing trend. The black population has stayed fairly constant from 2000–2005. The overall population rate has had a decrease of 37.6% from 2000–2005.

Drowning: In 2005 there were no incidences of drowning in Cape Girardeau County. The most incidences per year (2000–2005) occurred in 2003 with 3 drownings. The black population has had no incidences of drowning from 2000–2005 compared to 6 for the white population.

Work: Machinery: In 2005 the 25–44 year age group has the highest rate of incidence followed by the 45–64 age group, predominantly white and evenly distributed between male and female. Although there have been fluctuations in rates between 2000–2005, there is no significant upward or downward trend.

Weather/Wildlife: The under 15 year age group has the highest rate of incidence followed by the 15-24 year age group, predominantly white and female. The overall population has had a 3.49% increase in rate for this type of injury from 2000-2005.

Traffic Safety
The highest rate of death from unintentional injuries is from motor vehicle traffic. This type of injury was the second leading cause of all injury hospitalizations and ER visits from 1995–2005. The 15–17 year old age group has the highest rate of unintentional injury due to motor vehicle, followed by the 18–19 year old age group.

Seat Belts/Child Safety Seats: In 2001, 91.7% of all crashes cited seat belt use for Cape Girardeau County — 83.9% for Missouri. By 2003 Cape Girardeau rose to 95.1% use in all crashes — Missouri was 91.9%. Of the five contiguous counties (Bollinger, Cape Girardeau, Perry, Scott, and Stoddard) Cape Girardeau had the highest percent of seat belt use in motor vehicle crashes.

Alcohol/Drug Use: In 1996, 2.2% of all Cape Girardeau County motor vehicle crashes involved alcohol use — 3% for Missouri. By 2003, Cape Girardeau County had a decrease to 1.6% — 2.8% for Missouri. The Department of Mental Health reports that in the year 2004, 16 motor vehicle crashes in Cape Girardeau County involved drug use. This was a 100% decrease from 2000. Of the five contiguous counties, Cape Girardeau had the least percent of crashes involving alcohol use. The percent of all arrests for DWI in Cape Girardeau County for 2001 was 10.4%. By 2006 this percent had increased to 14.9% — higher than the state percent of 10.4%. Making accurate correlating interpretations from all data sources is synonymous with comparing apples and oranges. However, the 19–29 year old age group appears to have the highest percentage of crashes involving alcohol and also the highest arrest rate for DWI.

Work Injuries:
The rate and number of work related injuries — machinery — has decreased from 1994 to 2002. From the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services Community Health Profiles, Cape Girardeau County had a 2.0 rate of deaths from injuries at work from 1995–2005. During this same time period, the state rate was 1.8. Although the Missouri Department of Labor and Industrial Relations collaborates with the U.S. Department of labor on statistical data, there is not any readily available county data. The state of Missouri, after experiencing decreasing rates of nonfatal occupational injuries from 2000-2003, recently experienced a slight increase in rate. In 2003 the state rate was 5.0 and in 2005 it was 5.4. The highest incidence rate was in manufacturing with sprains/strains being the highest type of injury.

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