Carbon Monoxide Poisoning Hospitalizations
Summary Indicator Report Data View Options
Carbon Monoxide Poisoning Hospital Admissions by County, Age-adjusted Rates, 2018-2022,
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 on average each year approximately 18 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.
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 age-adjusted CO poisoning hospitalization rate; and 2) five-year age-adjusted CO poisoning hospitalization rate by county. Rates are per 100,000 population.
Data Sources
- New Mexico Population Estimates: University of New Mexico, Geospatial and Population Studies (GPS) Program.
(http://gps.unm.edu/) - Hospital Inpatient Discharge Data, New Mexico Department of Health.
How the Measure is Calculated
| Numerator: | The number of hospital admissions due to unintentional carbon monoxide poisoning by county within a given year. |
| Denominator: | Number of persons living in New Mexico in a given year by county. |
How Are We Doing?
CO poisoning hospitalizations have fluctuated since 2000, with a high of 1.8 per 100,000 in 2011 (n=39 hospitalizations) and a low of 0.1 in 2012 (n=2). At 0.6 cases per 100,000 population in 2022, the CO poisoning hospitalization rate remains relatively low compared to previous years.
What Is Being Done?
NMHealth's Environmental Health Epidemiology Bureau conducts surveillance for CO poisoning. They actively receive data from the New Mexico Poison and Drug Information Center at UNM https://hsc.unm.edu/poison/ regarding CO poisoning calls.
Other Objectives
CDC Environmental Public Health Tracking, Nationally Consistent Data and Measures (EPHT NCDM)
Footnote References
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.