Computers Can Send You to the ER, Study Shows

June 9, 2009— -- How dangerous could that laptop, desktop, or Mac sitting in front of you be?

The first report to count computer-related emergency room injuries shows that each year more and more Americans are tripping over cords, dropping monitors, banging heads and snagging limbs.

Emergency room visits from computer injuries increased sevenfold between 1994 and 2006, according to a report published June 9 in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

Worse, the number of injuries outpaced the number of new computers in the home. While injuries jumped 732 percent, household computer ownership increased by just 309 percent.

"The numbers look overwhelming but think about how in 2006 we had 115 million emergency room visits in the U.S., then visits from computers was 0.008 percent," said Dr. Charlene Irvin, of the American College of Emergency Physicians.

Since this study was limited to only 100 hospitals, counting computers injuries from all hospitals would likely bump up that percentage. But Irvin doubts computer woes would ever make the top 10 list.

"That doesn't mean to trivialize these injuries, because if you have a child and that monitor falls on your child that one visit is important," said Irvin.

While more common causes of emergency room visits such as gunshots and motor vehicle accidental injuries of course got more media attention, she was pleased to see information from external cause of injury codes (e-codes) used to document why people came into the emergency room. Irvin said only 17 states voluntarily submit e-codes.

"Someone might write down that a person came in with a broken arm, but then there's the question of whether it was intentional, and what was the mechanism?" said Irving. "If more people coded on e-codes, we would have a better idea about why these falls, and motor vehicle accidents happen."

Indeed, the report highlighted details that are hard to come by in many emergency room statistics. For instance, computer equipment falling on a person caused more E.R. visits [21.1 percent] than did tripping or falling on the computer, [18.2 percent of visits]. Also, males were more 7 percent more likely to injure themselves on the computer than females.

The data also showed head injuries increased until 2003, and then went on a decline. The authors guessed that the move to thinner LCD screens from the heavy, boxy cathode ray tube monitors had a safety benefit.

"We read the narrative with each case," said lead author Dr. Lara B. McKenzie, assistant professor at the Nationwide Children's Hospital Center for Injury Research and Policy in Columbus, Ohio. "The thing people were doing mostly was moving a computer or related component at the time of injury."