Suffocation Injuries in the United States

CI, Confidence Interval.
¹Only the five most common body system indicators are shown. Other body system indicators listed from most to least frequent are as follows: (1) Disease of the respiratory system; (2) endocrine, nutritional and metabolic disease and immunity disorders; (3) diseases of the nervous system and sense organs, (4) disease of the digestive system; (5) diseases of the musculoskeletal system; (6) diseases of the genitourinary system; (7) disease of the blood and blood-forming organs; (8) infectious and parasitic disease; (9) diseases of the skin and subcutaneous tissue; (10) neoplasms; (11)congenital anomalies; (12) certain conditions originating in the perinatal period; and (13) complications of pregnancy, childbirth and the perineum.
²Includes (1) newborns and infants; (2) vaccinations and inoculations; (3) suspected exposure to communicable diseases; (4) patients who are either a carrier of a disease or have the sequelae or residual of a past disease or condition; (5) patient's past medical condition that no longer exists and is not receiving any treatment, but that has the potential for recurrence or patients with family member(s) who has had a particular disease that causes the patient to be at higher risk of also contracting the disease; (6) screening encounter;, (7) observational encounters; (8) aftercare encounters; (9) follow-up encounters; (10) donors; (11) counseling encounters,;(12) encounters for obstetrical and reproductive services; (13) routine and administrative examinations; and (14) miscellaneous encounters.
³Only the five most common Injury methods are shown: Other Injury methods listed from most to least frequent are as follows: (1) injury involving motor vehicle traffic; (2) injury involving natural or environmental causes; and (3) injury by fire, flame, or hot objects.

CI, confidence interval, ED, emergency department.

CI, confidence interval.

Authors and Disclosures

Roula Sasso, MD*, Rana Bachir, MPH^† and Mazen El Sayed, MD, MPH^*†

*American University of Beirut Medical Center, Department of Emergency Medicine, Beirut, Lebanon
^†American University of Beirut Medical Center, Department of Emergency Medicine, Emergency Medical Services and Prehospital Care Program, Beirut, Lebanon

Address for Correspondence
Mazen El Sayed, MD, MPH, American University of Beirut Medical Center, Department of Emergency Medicine, 11–0236 Riad El Solh, Beirut, Lebanon 1107 2020. Email: melsayed@aub.edu.lb.

Conflicts of Interest
By the WestJEM article submission agreement, all authors are required to disclose all affiliations, funding sources and financial or management relationships that could be perceived as potential sources of bias. No author has professional or financial relationships with any companies that are relevant to this study. There are no conflicts of interest or sources of funding to declare.

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Population Health Research Capsule

What do we already know about this issue?

Suffocation injuries result in multi-organ damage and are a major cause of morbidity and mortality among different age groups.

What was the research question?

What are the characteristics of patients with suffocation injuries and factors associated with mortality in the United States?

What was the major finding of the study?

Mortality from suffocation is high with a significant burden on younger individuals and those with intentional injuries

How does this improve population health?

Familiarity with patients at risk of suffocation injuries can improve clinical outcomes and allow for implementation of initiatives that target behavior changes in this population.