DCSIMG

Indicator Profile of Hospitalizations Due to Unintentional Carbon Monoxide Poisoning

Why Is This Important?

Carbon monoxide (CO) is a colorless and odorless poisonous gas produced by the incomplete burning of solid, liquid and gaseous fuels. Unintentional CO exposure to people most frequently occurs due to improper ventilation, and or inhalation of exhaust fumes from vehicles, generators, gas furnaces or heaters. CO poisoning can also occur in combination with smoke inhalation and burns during residential fires.

While most CO poisoning can be prevented, every year more than 500 Americans die as a result of exposure to this toxic gas. Thousands of Americans annually need to get medical care for non-fatal CO poisonings. Symptoms of CO exposure may include: headache, fatigue, shortness of breath, nausea, dizziness and confusion. At high levels, CO poisoning causes loss of consciousness and death. Survivors of severe poisoning may suffer long-term neurological problems. CO poisoning can be prevented by the installation of CO detectors/alarms and the proper maintenance of heating systems.

Hospitalizations for Unintentional Carbon Monoxide Poisoning, Annual Age-Adjusted Rate in New Jersey by Year and Cause

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View Data For This Graph


Data Notes

Rates are age-adjusted to the U.S. 2000 population.

Data Sources

Office of Health Care Quality and Assessment, New Jersey Department of Health;  State Data Center, New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development; 

Other Graphical Views


Definition

Number or rate of hospitalizations due to unintentional carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning, from fires, non-fire conditions, or unknown causes, in a geographic area in a time period. The ICD-9 discharge diagnosis E-codes used were:

E890.0-E899.9 for fire-related hospitalization;

E800-E848.9, E850-E869.9, E880-E888.9, E900-E928.9 for non-fire-related hospitalization;

All records with a 986 code (carbon monoxide poisoning) with no associated E-code were classified as unknown.

How We Calculated the Rates

Numerator: Number of hospitalizations due to unintentional CO poisoning occurring among residents of a specified geographic area in a specified time period
Denominator: For rates, estimated population of a specific geographic area in a specific time period (using mid-year population estimates).

Page Content Updated On 12/11/12, Published on 12/11/12
Environmental Public Health Tracking Project, New Jersey Department of Health, PO Box 369, Trenton, NJ 08625-0369, Phone: 609-826-4984, e-mail: nj.epht@doh.state.nj.us, Web: www.nj.gov/health/epht
The information provided above is from the New Jersey Department of Health's NJSHAD Web site (http://nj.gov/health/shad). The information published on this website may be reproduced without permission. Please use the following citation: "Retrieved Wed, 22 May 2013 5:56:48 from New Jersey Department of Health, Center for Health Statistics, State Health Assessment Data Web site: http://nj.gov/health/shad".

Content updated: Fri, 8 Mar 2013 04:01:42 EST