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Table 3 Injury severity by injury circumstances, demographic characteristics, eligibility group, and World Trade Center (WTC) exposures, Health and Quality of Life 15 Years after 9/11 Study

From: Conducting a study to assess the long-term impacts of injury after 9/11: participation, recall, and description

 

Total injureda N = 1003

Severity index

 

Low (N = 120 (12.7%))

Medium (N = 448 (47.3%))

High (N = 380 (40.1%))

Missing (N = 55)

Characteristic

N (%)

N (%)

N (%)

N (%)

N

How injury occurred (among injured)b

 Hit by a falling object

98 (9.8)

7 (7.4)

28 (29.5)

60 (63.2)

3

 Trip and fell

200 (19.9)

18 (9.2)

104 (53.3)

73 (37.4)

5

 Hit head on object

83 (8.3)

18 (23.4)

32 (41.6)

27 (35.1)

6

 Came into contact with something hot

133 (13.3)

9 (7.0)

73 (57.0)

46 (35.9)

5

 Descending down stairs

316 (31.5)

27 (9.3)

145 (49.8)

119 (40.9)

25

 Trapped, buried, or crushed

58 (5.8)

3 (5.6)

29 (53.7)

22 (40.7)

4

 Covered by dust/debris/ash/asbestos

17 (1.7)

2 (13.3)

4 (26.7)

9 (60.0)

2

 Unknown or unsure

98 (9.8)

36 (38.7)

33 (35.5)

24 (25.8)

5

Injury type countc as measured at Wave 1

 1

624 (62.2)

85 (14.5)

316 (53.7)

187 (31.8)

0

 2

270 (26.9)

28 (10.9)

110 (43.0)

118 (46.1)

0

 3

75 (7.5)

7 (10.0)

16 (22.9)

47 (67.1)

0

 4

28 (2.8)

0 (0.0)

6 (21.4)

22 (78.6)

0

 5

6 (0.6)

0 (0.0)

0 (0.0)

6 (100.0)

0

Age at 9/11 (years)

 16–34

181 (18.1)

15 (8.8)

85 (49.7)

71 (41.5)

10

 35–49

578 (57.6)

67 (12.3)

262 (48.1)

216 (39.6)

33

  ≥ 50

244 (24.3)

38 (16.4)

101 (43.5)

93 (40.1)

12

Sex

     

 Men

614 (61.2)

79 (13.8)

244 (42.7)

249 (43.5)

42

 Women

389 (38.8)

41 (10.9)

204 (54.3)

131 (34.8)

13

Race/ Ethnicity

 White

715 (71.3)

88 (13.1)

310 (46.3)

272 (40.6)

45

 Black

112 (11.2)

12 (11.3)

54 (50.9)

40 (37.7)

6

 Latino

117 (11.7)

18 (15.8)

53 (46.5)

43 (37.7)

3

 Asian

31 (3.1)

0 (0.0)

14 (45.2)

17 (54.8)

0

 Other race

28 (2.8)

2 (7.4)

17 (63.0)

8 (29.6)

1

Employed on 9/11

     

 No

28 (2.8)

6 (21.4)

12 (42.9)

10 (35.7)

0

 Yes

974 (97.2)

114 (12.4)

436 (47.4)

369 (40.2)

55

Eligibility group

 Rescue and recovery worker

423 (42.2)

53 (13.8)

161 (41.8)

171 (44.4)

38

  Date of arrival: 9/11/01d

324 (77.5)

41 (13.8)

122 (41.1)

134 (45.1)

27

  Date of arrival: 9/12/01

34 (8.1)

3 (12.0)

12 (48.0)

10 (40.0)

9

  Date of arrival: 9/13/01–9/17/01

30 (7.2)

7 (24.1)

11 (37.9)

11 (37.9)

1

  Date of arrival: 9/18/01 and later

30 (7.2)

1 (3.4)

13 (44.8)

15 (51.7)

1

  Total number of days worked: 1–7 daysd

111 (27.2)

15 (13.9)

44 (40.7)

49 (45.4)

3

  Total number of days worked: 7.5–30 days

100 (24.5)

15 (16.3)

36 (39.1)

41 (44.6)

8

  Total number of days worked: 30.5–90 days

104 (25.5)

10 (11.5)

41 (47.1)

36 (41.4)

17

  Total number of days worked: ≥90.5 days

93 (22.8)

11 (13.3)

35 (42.2)

37 (44.6)

10

 Lower Manhattan resident

66 (6.6)

12 (18.5)

35 (53.8)

18 (27.7)

1

 Lower Manhattan area worker/passerby

514 (51.3)

55 (11.0)

252 (50.6)

191 (38.4)

16

WTC exposure score

 None/low

25 (2.5)

5 (21.7)

15 (65.2)

3 (13.0)

2

 Medium

228 (22.7)

45 (20.8)

107 (49.5)

64 (29.6)

12

 High

491 (49.0)

55 (11.9)

216 (46.7)

192 (41.5)

28

 Very high

259 (25.8)

15 (6.1)

110 (44.7)

121 (49.2)

13

  1. aIncludes only those with consistent reports of injury across Wave 1 and the HQoL Study
  2. bParticipants were asked specifically about their most serious injury received on 9/11
  3. cCount of the following injury types: cut, broken bone, burn, concussion, sprain
  4. dAmong rescue/recovery workers, date of arrival and number of days worked refer to rescue and recovery work at the World Trade Center site
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Injury Epidemiology

ISSN: 2197-1714