An official website of the United States government.
Infographics Module Help
The WISQARS™ Fatal and Nonfatal Injury Infographics module allows you to rapidly visualize injury data from a variety of sources and easily share the results however you choose, including social media.
Data and statistics that are displayed include:
- Fatal and nonfatal injury counts and rates
- Fatal and total injury costs
- Years of potential life lost (YPLL)
- Leading causes of injury-related deaths
The Infographics module allows you to visualize national data, state-level data, and national data compared to state-level data. Depending on the infographic type selected, visualizations include the data and statistics listed above, as well as
- Demographic distributions of fatal injuries (race/ethnicity, age group and sex)
- Annual and monthly trends of fatal injuries
- Annual trends of nonfatal emergency department visits
- The distribution of injuries by state
Getting Started
To customize the visualizations displayed, you will begin by clicking the "Change Filters" button near the top, right of the screen to select the data filters you want to apply.
WISQARS™ Data Use Agreement
You are asked to agree to the terms of the WISQARS™ Data Use Agreement the first time you click on the "Change Filters" button. Click "I Agree" on the pop-up screen to accept the confidentiality terms for data usage and to continue to the "Data Filters" screen.
The Data Filters screen will allow you to make some key decisions about the data you want to view—such as years, geographic level, intent and mechanism, and age—to create an infographic.
Some choices may affect the other data filter options that are available. For example, a State drop-down menu appears if you choose either State or State/National Comparison under Infographic Type. Below is a list of the data options available.
Data Filters: Years of Data
Users can select the number of years they want to explore from the dropdown menu under "Years of Data."
Users can either select 5-years or 10-years. The default selection is 5 years. Selecting five years of data may result in data suppression due to small numbers.
Note that some combinations of data filter selections (i.e., rare injuries) may not allow for results to be displayed even when viewing 10 years of data.
Data Filters: Infographic Type
Users can view either a National, State, or State/National Comparison infographic by using the Infographic Type drop-down menu.
Fatal and nonfatal injury data are presented for the National infographic. Only fatal injury data are available for the State and State/National Comparison infographics. The National infographic type is displayed as the default selection.
Data Filters: Display As
Choose whether to have data in the National, State, or State/National Comparison Infographic presented in charts or tables in the Display As drop-down menu.
Bar charts, trend lines, and maps will be displayed when Chart is selected. Tables are recommended for people who are visually impaired or would like to see the data used to create charts and maps. Note that some elements of the infographics contain only one data point therefore, the display does not change based on the "Display As" selection. Displaying the infographic as a Chart is the default selection.
Data Filters: Intent
This option allows you to select which injury intent to display in the infographic. Intent of injury is whether an injury was caused by an act carried out on purpose by oneself or by another person(s), with the goal of injuring or killing.
If you have selected the National Infographic, you may choose to view All Intents or select one of the following:
- Unintentional
- Violence-related (homicide/Assaults, legal intervention, or suicide/self-harm)
If you have selected the State or State/National Comparison Infographic, you may choose to view All Intents or select one of the following:
- Unintentional,
- Violence-related (homicide, legal intervention, or suicide)
- Undetermined
WISQARS Glossary
Find definitions for the different injury intents at the WISQARS Glossary.
Data Filters: Mechanism
Select which injury mechanism to display in the infographic in the Mechanism drop-down menu. The cause, or mechanism, of injury is the way in which the person sustained the injury; how the person was injured; or the process by which the injury occurred.
In the National Infographic you may choose to view All Injury or select one of the 14 mechanisms available for bothfatal and nonfatal injuries. Of those, transport-related overall, pedal cyclist, and pedestrian mechanisms have options that allow you to run more detailed queries.
In the State or State/National Comparison Infographic you may choose to view All Injury or select one of the 27 mechanisms available for fatal injuries. Of those, adverse effects overall, fire/burn, poisoning, transport-related overall, motor vehicle - traffic, pedal cyclist, and pedestrian mechanisms have options that allow the user to run more detailed queries. Nonfatal injury data is not available at the state level.
Intent & Mechanism Combinations
You will receive the following error message for an invalid intent and mechanism combination:
Error Selecting Injury Mechanism/Intent Combination You have selected a Mechanism and Intent combination for injury mortality data that is not valid. Please refer to this table for a list of valid combinations: Valid Cause and Intent Combinations for 1999 and Later Data. Please modify your intent or mechanism selections so that you may proceed.
Data Filters: Age Group
Choose to view data for All Ages or one of the available age groups in the Age Groups drop-down menu.
In addition to All Ages, the following age groups are available for all Intent selections except Suicide and Self-Harm:
- <1
- 1 to 17
- 18 to 24
- 25 to 44
- 45 to 64
- 65+ year(s)
In addition to All Ages, the following age groups are available if you select the Suicide or Self-Harm intent:
- 10 to 17
- 18 to 24
- 25 to 44
- 45 to 64
- 65+ years
Note that the data presented for All Ages include those of unknown age. All Ages is the default selection.
Data Filters: State
The State drop-down menu only appears if you select State or State/National Comparison as the Infographic Type on the Data Filters screen.
If you chose a State or State/National Comparison Infographic, select to view data for one of the 50 states or the District of Columbia in the State drop-down menu. Alabama is the default selection.
Fatal and nonfatal data are presented in the National Infographic. Note that fatal and nonfatal injury data come from different data sources and are classified using separate coding schema so the intent and mechanism data presented may not align completely. Results across these data sources should be interpreted with caution.
The Number of Deaths and corresponding number of Nonfatal Injuries by disposition (that is, hospitalized or treated and released from an emergency department) are displayed based on your selections for the injury type (intent and mechanism), age group, and years of data on the Data Filters screen.
Injury Cost in the United States displays the economic burden of fatal and nonfatal injuries based on your selections for the injury type (intent and mechanism) and age group. Cost estimates are for the year 2020.
Note that this visualization does not take into account the years of data selected on the Data Filters screen.
Total Injury Cost includes costs for both fatal and nonfatal injury, including nonfatal hospitalizations and nonfatal emergency department treat and release visits. Nonfatal injury costs include medical care, work loss, and quality of life loss. Fatal Injury Cost accounts for medical care associated with the fatal injury and statistical life value.
This visualization displays the years of potential life lost (YPLL) based on your selections for the injury type (intent and mechanism), age group, and years of data.
YPLL is a measure of the burden of premature death. It is calculated by subtracting the age at death from the standard year, and then summing the individual YPLL across each cause of death. The standard year is age 65, with deaths occurring before this age considered premature and contributing to the YPLL for this visualization.
This visualization displays the top five (5) leading causes of injury-related deaths in the selected age group and is based on your selections for years of data on the Data Filters screen.
Note that this visualization does not take into account the injury mechanism and injury intent selected on the Data Filters screen.
The number and percentage of all injury-related deaths in the selected age group are displayed for each cause of death. The percentage displayed for each of the top 5 causes of injury death is calculated using the number of deaths due to each intent/mechanism combination divided by the total number of injury deaths in the selected age group.
Injury deaths among infants and persons of unknown age
The National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), National Vital Statistics System (NVSS), classifies causes of death which can be ranked differently for infants aged <1 year. Therefore, injury deaths among infants aged <1 year are excluded from leading cause of death calculations when "All Ages" is selected. Deaths among persons of unknown age are also excluded from leading cause of injury death calculations.
These three data visualizations display fatal injury rates per 100,000 population by race and ethnicity, age, and sex in the United States based on your selections for the injury type (intent and mechanism), age group, and years of data on the Data Filters screen.
Note that persons of Hispanic ethnicity may be of any race and that the Hispanic category includes all races where the person's ethnicity has been indicated as Hispanic on the death certificate. NH stands for non-Hispanic.
Data are displayed for all age groups regardless of the age group selected on the Data Filters screen to allow for age group comparisons. The age group selected on the Data Filters screen is highlighted in a lighter color shade on the graph when data are displayed as a chart. All Ages is displayed by default and is highlighted in a lighter color shade on the graph if no specific age group is selected.
These two data visualizations display fatal and nonfatal injury rates per 100,000 population by year in the United States based on your selections for the injury type (intent and mechanism), age group, and years of data on the Data Filters screen. The number of years displayed in the chart or table is determined by your selection for Years of Data on the Data Filters screen.
This visualization displays fatal injury rates per 100,000 population by state based on your selections for the injury type (intent and mechanism), age group, and years of data on the Data Filters screen. Data can be displayed as a map (by choosing Display as Chart on the Data Filters screen) or table. States are presented in various shades of purple to denote the fatal injury rate with lighter shades corresponding to lower rates and darker shades corresponding to higher rates when data are displayed as a map. Smaller states and the District of Columbia are represented on the right by a box with the two-letter acronym. The state selected on the Data Filters screen is outlined in black on the State or State/National Comparison infographic.
Fatal data are presented in the State Infographic. Nonfatal data are not presented in the State Infographic. Alabama is the default selection when the State Infographic is displayed. Most data visualizations for the State Infographic are similar to the National Infographic. Any differences are noted below.
Number of Deaths, Population, and Fatal Injury Rate in a State are all displayed in the State Infographic, whereas the National Infographic only displays the Fatal Injury Rate and number of fatal injuries (along with the corresponding nonfatal injuries by disposition).
Injury Cost in a State only accounts for the economic cost of fatal injuries, unlike the cost data displayed on the National Infographic, which includes both the total cost for fatal and nonfatal injuries, in addition to the total cost for fatal injuries alone. Cost data are shown for the year 2020, regardless of the years of data and year range you selected on the Data Filters screen.
This visualization displays fatal injury rates per 100,000 population by month in the selected state based on your selections for the injury type (intent and mechanism), age group, and years of data on the Data Filters screen.
The State/National Comparison Infographic visualizes both national and state fatal data. Nonfatal data are not presented in the State/National Comparison Infographic. Alabama is the default State selection when the State/National Comparison Infographic is displayed.
Data visualizations for the State/National Comparison Infographic are similar to both the National Infographic and the State Infographic. Any differences are noted below.
State data are presented on the infographic in purple and national data are presented in blue when data are displayed as a chart. State injury data appear on the left for the first visualization displaying number of deaths, fatal injury rate, fatal injury costs, years of potential life lost, and the top five (5) causes of injury death in the specified age group, while national injury data appear on the right.
State and national data are presented in the same chart or graph, allowing for comparison for the demographic distributions and trends. In the bar charts, the state rate appears first, followed by the national rate, for each category. You can hover your mouse over any of the bars, or data points to view a specific injury rate for a particular race/ethnicity, age group, sex, year, or month when displayed as a chart.