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