Rural and Urban Differences in Passenger-Vehicle-Occupant Deaths and Seat Belt Use Among Adults - United States, 2014.

Rural and Urban Differences in Passenger-Vehicle-Occupant Deaths and Seat Belt Use Among Adults - United States, 2014. MMWR Surveill Summ. 2017 Sep 22;66(17):1-13 Authors: Beck LF, Downs J, Stevens MR, Sauber-Schatz EK Abstract PROBLEM/CONDITION: Motor-vehicle crashes are a leading cause of death in the United States. Compared with urban residents, rural residents are at an increased risk for death from crashes and are less likely to wear seat belts. These differences have not been well described by levels of rurality. REPORTING PERIOD: 2014. DESCRIPTION OF SYSTEMS: Data from the Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) and the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) were used to identify passenger-vehicle-occupant deaths from motor-vehicle crashes and estimate the prevalence of seat belt use. FARS, a census of U.S. motor-vehicle crashes involving one or more deaths, was used to identify passenger-vehicle-occupant deaths among adults aged ≥18 years. Passenger-vehicle occupants were defined as persons driving or riding in passenger cars, light trucks, vans, or sport utility vehicles. Death rates per 100,000 population, age-adjusted to the 2000 U.S. standard population and the proportion of occupants who were unrestrained at the time of the fatal crash, were calculated. BRFSS, an annual, state-based, random-digit-dialed telephone survey of the noninstitutionalized U.S. civilian population aged ≥18 years,...
Source: MMWR Surveill Summ - Category: Epidemiology Authors: Tags: MMWR Surveill Summ Source Type: research