THURSDAY, Jan. 15, 2004 (HealthDayNews) -- The medical cost of injuries in the United States is an estimated $117 billion a year, similar in size to costs associated with other major public health concerns such as smoking and obesity, a new U.S. government report says.
The cost of injuries represents about 10 percent of total medical spending in the United States, says the report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It also found that about 16 percent of non-institutionalized civilians in the United States reported treatment for at least one injury in 2000.
The report appears in the Jan. 16 issue of the CDC publication Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
"The medical costs associated with injuries are staggering, but it's just the tip of the iceberg. When we add in productivity losses, decreased quality of life, and the emotional toil that injuries and disabilities have on families, the problem is enormous," CDC Director Dr. Julie Gerberding says in a prepared statement.
Falls accounted for at least 33 percent of the total medical cost of injuries in 2000, and motor vehicle crashes accounted for at least 18 percent.
"Motor vehicle crashes, homicides, suicide and debilitating falls are so common that unfortunately many have accepted that injury is inevitable. This is tragic because so many injuries are preventable," Gerberding says.
Communities can greatly reduce injuries by implementing effective prevention programs, Dr. Sue Binder, director of the CDC's Injury Prevention Center, says in a prepared statement.
"We know that seat belts and child safety seats and smoke alarms are effective. And we can prevent falls among older adults through exercise programs that include balance training, vision correction, and reduction of medications to the fewest number and doses, and environmental changes," Binder says.
More information
Here's where you can learn more about injury prevention.
