Injury Costs Across the Lifespan

-Injury outcome
-Cost type: direct and indirect
-Leading causes of injury

BC Priorities: Falls, Transport Incidents, and Suicide/Self-harm

Data Sources

Reference Population

The causes, outcomes, and costs of injury change across the lifespan.

Injury Costs Across the Lifespan

The total cost of injury by age group in 2018 were:

$278 million among children aged 0-14 years
$588 million among youth & young adults aged 15-24 years
$2.1 billion among adults aged 25-64 years
$1.3 billion among older adults aged 65 years and older

The total cost of injury by leading cause for each age group were:

$112 million for falls among children aged 0-14 years
$125 million for unintentional poisoning among youth & young adults aged 15-24 years
$567 million for unintentional poisoning among adults aged 25-64 years
$1.1 billion for falls among older adults aged 65 years and older

Injury outcome

For children aged 0-14 years, the total cost of injury by outcome in 2018 were:

$22 million for injury deaths
$19 million for injury hospitalizations
$118 million for injury ED visits
$119 million for injury disability

For youth & young adults aged 15-24 years, the total cost of injury by outcome were:

$262 million for injury deaths
$46 million for injury hospitalizations
$169 million for injury ED visits
$111 million for injury disability

For adults aged 25-64 years, the total cost of injury by outcome were:

$914 million for injury deaths
$253 million for injury hospitalizations
$636 million for injury ED visits
$272 million for injury disability

For older adults aged 65 years and older, the total cost of injury by outcome were:

$35 million for injury deaths
$495 million for injury hospitalizations
$262 million for injury ED visits
$555 million for injury disability

The table below depicts total costs in millions for cause and outcome of injury, by age group and sex, across BC and the Health Authorities.

Using Tableau

Many of the data figures below include filters you can use to customize the display. Use the filter drop-down menus at the top of the figure to select an age group, sex, cause, cost type, or measure (e.g., cases or rates). When a filter is selected, the title and contents of the data figure will change automatically.

Please note that case counts fewer than 5 are not identified in the tables or charts. Figures are best viewed in full screen.

The Tableau tool bar at the bottom of each chart provides additional functionality:

Use the Share icon to copy a link to the figure, or to share it via email, Twitter, or Facebook.

Use the Download icon to download the figure as an image or PDF, or to download the data used

Use the Full-screen icon to enlarge the figure to fit the screen

For children aged 0-14 years, the cost per outcome of all injuries in 2018 were:

$1,016,818 for injury deaths
$10,728 for injury hospitalizations
$1,205 for injury ED visits
$271,936 for injury disability

For youth & young adults aged 15-24 years, the cost per outcome of all injuries in 2018 were:

$1,164,876 for injury deaths
$16,619 for injury hospitalizations
$1,553 for injury ED visits
$150,374 for injury disability

For adults aged 25-64 years, the cost per outcome of all injuries in 2018 were:

$564,332 for injury deaths
$20,928 for injury hospitalizations
$2,029 for injury ED visits
$95,515 for injury disability

For older adults aged 65 years and older, the cost per outcome of all injuries in 2018 were:

$44,256 for injury deaths
$29,749 for injury hospitalizations
$2,766 for injury ED visits
$117,387 for injury disability

The table below depicts cost per outcome for cause and outcome of injury, by age group and sex, across BC and the Health Authorities.

Cost type: direct and indirect

The direct costs of injury by age group in 2018 were:

$196 million among children aged 0-14 years
$268 million among youth & young adults aged 15-24 years
$1,072 million among adults aged 25-64 years
$1,165 million among older adults aged 65 years and older

The indirect costs of injury by age group were:

$82 million among children aged 0-14 years
$321 million among youth & young adults aged 15-24 years
$1,003 million among adults aged 25-64 years
$182 million among older adults aged 65 years and older

The table below depicts costs in millions for cause of injury and type of costs, by age group and sex, across BC and the Health Authorities.

Leading causes of injury

The total costs of injury by leading cause and age group in 2018 were:

$112 million for falls among children aged 0-14 years
$125 million for unintentional poisoning & $124 million for transport incidents among youth & young adults aged 15-24 years
$566 million for unintentional poisoning & $412 million for falls among adults aged 25-64 years
$1,144 million for falls among older adults aged 65 years and older

The direct costs of injury by leading cause and age group were:

$78 million for falls among children aged 0-14 years
$60 million for transport incidents & $49 million for falls among youth & young adults aged 15-24 years
$335 million for falls & $182 million for transport incidents among adults aged 25-64 years
$963 million for falls among older adults aged 65 years and older

The indirect costs of injury by leading cause and age group were:

$34 million for falls among children aged 0-14 years
$116 million for unintentional poisoning & $80 million for suicide/self-harm among youth & young adults aged 15-24 years
$524 million for unintentional poisoning & $205 million for suicide/self-harm among adults aged 25-64 years
$181 million for falls among older adults aged 65 years and older

The figure below depicts costs in millions for leading causes of injury and type of costs, by age group and sex, across BC and the Health Authorities.