Reduce emergency department visits for nonfatal intentional self-harm injuries — IVP‑19 Data Methodology and Measurement

A nonfatal intentional self-harm injury is defined as an injury or poisoning resulting from a deliberate violent act inflicted on oneself with the intent to take one's own life or with the intent to harm oneself. Both confirmed and suspected intentional self-harm is included. NEISS uses external cause of injury codes and follows guidelines consistent with coding guidelines in the ICD 9-CM. NEISS coders are given extensive training and report any self-harm injury cases in the emergency department record. A detailed description of the methods for coding nonfatal injuries has been published elsewhere. Data by race are not reported because multiple race data are not typically available from the emergency department records. Emergency department visit rates are calculated using the new bridged-race postcensal population estimates of the resident population of the United States for the data year involved. Population counts enumerated as of April 1st are used for census years (e.g., 2010). Population estimates as of July 1st are used for all other years. Intercensal population estimates are used in rate calculations for the years between censuses (e.g., 1991–1999, 2001–2009). Please note that postcensal population estimates for years after the last census are updated annually, which means that rates prior to the update may be different.