Important Facts for Carbon Monoxide Poisoning Hospitalizations

Definition

Hospitalizations for carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning are the admissions of New Mexico residents due to unintentional/accidental CO poisoning. These CO poisoning admissions could be fire-related, non-fire-related or of unknown cause/origin. Measures are: 1) annual number of hospitalizations from carbon monoxide poisoning; 2) Annual crude carbon monoxide poisoning hospitalization rate; and 3) Annual age-adjusted carbon monoxide poisoning hospitalization rate. Rates are per 100,000 population. Age-adjusted rates are calculated by the direct method to the Year 2000 US Standard population, http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr47/nvs47_03.pdf, Age Standardization of Death Rates: Implementation of the Year 2000 Standard by Robert N. Anderson, Ph.D., and Harry M. Rosenberg, Ph.D., National Vital Statistics Reports From the CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION, National Center for Health Statistics, National Vital Statistics System, Volume 47, Number 3.

Numerator

The number of hospital admissions due to unintentional carbon monoxide poisoning by county, age, and gender within a given year.

Denominator

Number of persons living in New Mexico in a given year, by county, age and gender.

Data Interpretation Issues

The data are based on the ICD codes from the New Mexico Hospital Inpatient Discharge Data (HIDD) files 1999 - 2009; ICD9-CM codes 986 or E868.2, E868.3, E868.8, E868.9, E952.0, E952.1, E982.0, or E982.1, were either the primary or a contributing condition, or ICD-10-CM codes T58.01, T58.04, T58.11, T58.14, T58.2X1, T58.2X4, T58.8X1, T58.8X4, T58.91 or T58.94 without any of the following accompanying diagnosis codes: X01-X08. Admissions are grouped as 'any-listed'. 'Any-listed' admissions are all admissions in which carbon monoxide poisoning was one of the ten possible diagnoses listed for the hospital admission. If 'First-listed' admissions are needed, those include only the admissions in which carbon monoxide poisoning was the first diagnosis listed (coded) for the hospitalizations, then users are directed to https://nmtracking.org/dataportal/query/Index.html.

Why Is This Important?

Persons hospitalized with carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning are among the most severely poisoned cases. Although unintentional CO poisoning can almost always be prevented, CO is the most common cause of poisoning deaths in the United States and every year more than 20 New Mexicans die as a result of accidental or unintentional exposure to this toxic gas. Patients who survive are likely to develop long-term neurological problems. The CO poisoning hospitalizations data can be used to assess the burden of severe CO poisoning, monitor trends over time, and to inform CO exposure prevention, education, and evaluation efforts to prevent poisoning.

Other Objectives

CDC Environmental Public Health Tracking, Nationally Consistent Data and Measures (EPHT NCDM)