Description

For all injury/poisoning episodes that occurred within the past 3 months, IRMEDHOSP reports whether or not the person was hospitalized for at least one night as a result of this injury/poisoning. For the number of nights the person spent in the hospital, please see IRIHNO.

IRMEDHOSP is an injury-level variable.

IRMEDHOSP is part of a series of variables initiated in 1997 that systematically report persons' injuries and poisonings, the cause, what the person was doing while sustaining the injury or poisoning, and where she/he was at the time of the injury or poisoning. For related variables and additional information, please see the User Note on Injuries and Poisonings or use the IPUMS NHIS search function and drop-down menus.

Comparability

In 2000-2003, respondents were asked where they sought medical advice, treatment, or follow up care for each injury or poisoning, possible places where a person could receive medical attention included "Visit to Hospital (stayed at least one night)". Responses were recorded as "Mentioned" or "Not Mentioned" for each medical resource the respondent named. Possible responses were not presented with a flashcard outlining possible sources of medical attention and field representatives were not told to inquire about an overnight stay in the hospital if it was not mentioned.

In 1997-1999, and in 2004-forward, respondents were asked about where they sought medical attention for injury/poisoning episodes with a unique question for each possible source of medical attention including a specific question about being "hospitalized for at least one night", and responses were recorded as "Yes" or "No".

Otherwise, there are no comparability issues.

Prior to 2000, persons were asked about injuries and poisonings separately. To improve comparability across samples, IHIS integrated all episode level data as a single record type. Episodes that were originally released by NHIS in the poisoning files for 1997-1999 can be identified using the variable IRPOISYN.

Universe

Availability

• 1997-2017

Weights

• 1997-2017 : PERWEIGHT