WISQARS™ Help: Fatal Injury Data Visualization
Fatal Injury Data Visualization
Data Visualization Training Videos
Data Sources & Definitions
Data Visualizations & Accessibility
Data Filters
Data Downloads
Data Visualization Training Videos
Data Sources & Definitions
Fatal Injury Data
WISQARS Data Visualization uses mortality data come from the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), CDC annual mortality data files. NCHS mortality data are derived from the Multiple Cause of Death data. All 1999 and later mortality statistics in WISQARS Fatal Injury data are based on codes in the International Classification of Disease-10th Revision (ICD-10). ICD-10 is used in various countries worldwide for coding death. The ICD-10 codes include code sets for types of disease, medical procedures, and external causes of injury. The underlying cause of death codes from the annual mortality data file were used to determine the numbers of deaths by external cause of injury. For more information, visit the WISQARS Fatal Injury help pages. Or visit the NCHS mortality data pages.
Population Estimates
Resident population data used to calculate crude death rates and age-adjusted rates are from the U.S. Census Bureau. These estimates were produced by the U.S. Census Bureau under a collaborative arrangement NCHS. These estimates are relatively consistent with population estimates used by NCHS for calculating mortality rates based on data from the National Vital Statistics System. Please note that postcensal population estimates are updated annually, which means that fatal injury rates from WISQARS prior to the update may be different.
Definitions of Data Elements
WISQARS Data Visualization provides definitions of data elements and specific categories within data elements available from WISQARS Fatal Injury help pages. The data elements include cause or mechanism of injury; intent of injury; state of residence; race, Hispanic origin, and sex of the deceased. Visit WISQARS Fatal Injury help pages for more information.
U.S. State and County-Level Maps
Rates in WISQARS Fatal Injury Mapping are tagged with a state or county Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) code. These codes uniquely identify states and counties.
The maps displayed in WISQARS Fatal Injury Mapping rely on “shape” files that are used to draw state and county boundaries. Each shape is also tagged with a FIPS code that uniquely identifies the corresponding state or county. Maps are displayed using these shape files from the “Year TO” selection.
Rate maps are produced by matching the FIPS codes for the map shapes (states or counties) to the FIPS codes for the rates. Each rate is also tagged with an interval number, which determines the color used to fill in each map shape.
Geographic boundaries of counties occasionally change due to splits, merges, or other administrative actions. Data recorded subsequent to such actions may not immediately reflect the changed geography. WISQARS Fatal Injury Mapping presents county-level maps that reflect the geography most compatible with the way in which the relevant data were recorded.
View changes to counties or county equivalent entities at Census.gov.
WISQARS Citation
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control. Web-based Injury Statistics Query and Reporting System (WISQARS) [online]. (2017) [cited Year Month (abbreviated) Day]. Available from URL: www.cdc.gov/injury/wisqars
Data Visualizations & Accessibility
Accessibility
To access data available via a mouse over or drill down click on visualizations, use keyboard navigation in the Filter Data window. See Data Filters for more information on the Filter Data window.
Treemap
The Cause of Death Treemap shows intent and mechanism of death. Hovering over a specific intent or mechanism of death shows a tooltip with more information about that data element.
- The application updates the filter state and redraws the visualizations to show the selected intent of death when you click a specific intent of death and submit.
- The application updates the filter state and redraws the visualizations to show the specific mechanism as the cause of death when you click on a specific mechanism of death and submit.
State Map
The U.S. state map illustrates injury data by state. Each state’s color is based on how it ranks. The state map is interactive. You can add or remove states from the current filter by clicking on a state.
Distribution by Sex
The Distribution by Sex chart shows injury data for males and females. You can filter the chart by choosing male, female or both genders.
Distribution by Age
The Distribution by Age chart shows injury data by age groups or a custom age range. You can click on age ranges to change the data filter.
Distribution by Race and Ethnicity
The Distribution by Race and Ethnicity chart shows injury data by a combination of race and ethnicities. You can redraw the Distribution by Race and Ethnicity chart based on the options you select.
Trends
The trends button redraws visualizations, changing bar charts into trend charts. The trend charts apply to Distribution by Sex, Distribution by Age, and Distribution by Race and Ethnicity. Hover over data points in the charts for more details.
Data Filters
Filter Data
The Filter Data button opens a window containing the following filter state options.
- Intent
- Mechanism
- State
- Race
- Hispanic Origin
- Sex
- Age
You can apply filters to customize the visualizations.
Data Downloads
Download
Select the Download button for a preview of the data in table format. Download data in the following formats.
- Data Table: CSV file.
- Image: JPG or SVG format. A JPG file is a common compressed image format. An SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics) file is a XML-based vector image format.