Wheelchairs
Twenty years of CPSC NEISS emergency-room records for this consumer product category, combined with demographic breakdowns, multi-year injury trends, and matching recall notices.
Home Medical & Assistance Devices · CPSC Code 1707
No trend data
The verdict
Wheelchairs carry a danger score of 47/100 (moderate risk), driven by roughly 123,251 ER-treated injuries a year that are stable over the most recent five-year window.
- 47/100
- danger score (moderate risk)
- 123,251
- ER visits per year (avg)
- 16.3%
- end in hospital admission
- 75+
- most-injured age group
Every figure is rendered from the CPSC NEISS record for product code 1707 - last data year 2010.
PlainSafety danger score
How this 47/100 score is built
The score is computed from four CPSC-derived factors for wheelchairs - no opinion, no editorializing:
- Injury volume123,251 ER visits/yr
- Severity (hospitalization rate)16.3%
- Fatality rate0.03%
- 5-year trendN/A
See the full methodology for the exact weighting of each factor.
What the CPSC Data Shows
Wheelchairs (CPSC product code 1707, in the Home Medical & Assistance Devices category) generate an estimated 123,251 emergency-room visits every year in the United States, adding up to roughly 739,508 ER-treated injuries across the 6-year span from 2005 to 2010. PlainSafety derives a danger score of 47/100 for this category (moderate risk), combining raw injury volume, demographic reach, severity of outcome, and multi-year trend. The five-year trajectory shows that injury counts are stable over the most recent five-year window, with the busiest year on record being 2010 (145,850 estimated ER visits) and the quietest 2005 (103,055 estimated visits).
The single most common ER diagnosis for wheelchairs is internal injury to the head, accounting for approximately 81,485 visits across the 20-year NEISS window, followed by contusions, abr. to the lower trunk (49,836 cases). The 75+ age group absorbs the largest share of injuries, about 382,391 cases over the NEISS window, and females appear slightly more often than the opposite sex in that cohort. Severity outcomes from the NEISS disposition field show that 16.3% of ER visits involving this product end in hospital admission or transfer, and a small fraction (0.03%) result in fatality.
Beyond the hospital-sampled NEISS projections, this page also aggregates 0 consumer incident reports filed directly on SaferProducts.gov, plus 20 anonymized ER narratives - together forming a layered picture of how wheelchairs fail in real households. Every figure on this page comes from CPSC-published data: NEISS projects national estimates from a probability sample of about 100 U.S. hospital emergency departments, while SaferProducts.gov collects voluntary reports from consumers, manufacturers, and clinicians. The danger score, trend indicators, and demographic breakdowns update automatically when CPSC releases a new yearly NEISS file, which is why this page is dated 2010-12-31. For regulatory context, consult CPSC recall notices and the SaferProducts.gov public database linked below.
Annual Injury Estimates (2005–2010)
Source: CPSC NEISS national estimates CPSC NEISS national estimates Injuries represent ER-treated cases only
Who Gets Injured?
| Age Group | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-4 | 2,189 | 1,597 | |
| 5-14 | 5,793 | 4,936 | |
| 15-24 | 10,103 | 8,302 | |
| 25-34 | 13,309 | 10,813 | |
| 35-44 | 20,468 | 20,063 | |
| 45-54 | 36,530 | 35,757 | |
| 55-64 | 40,741 | 46,927 | |
| 65-74 | 40,727 | 58,772 | |
| 75+ | 106,524 | 275,792 |
Most Common Injuries
| Body Part | Diagnosis | Est. Injuries |
|---|---|---|
| Head | Internal Injury | |
| Lower Trunk | Contusions, Abr. | |
| Face | Laceration | |
| Lower Trunk | Fracture | |
| Head | Contusions, Abr. | |
| Face | Contusions, Abr. | |
| Head | Laceration | |
| Lower Leg | Laceration | |
| Lower Trunk | Other | |
| Lower Trunk | Strain, Sprain | |
| Knee | Contusions, Abr. | |
| Lower Leg | Fracture | |
| Upper Trunk | Contusions, Abr. | |
| Upper Leg | Fracture | |
| Foot | Contusions, Abr. |
Severity Breakdown
ER Visit Narratives
Real anonymized emergency room reports from the CPSC NEISS database.
82YOF FELL TO FLOOR FROM WHEELCHAIR UNRESPONSIVESYNCOPE
88YOF FELL OUT OF WHEELCHAIR TO GROUNDFACIAL CONTUSION
85YOF PASSED OUT WHILE IN WHEELCHAIR AT NURSING HOMESYNCOPE
CONTUSION LEFT LOWER LEG-68YOM BECAME DIZZY AND FELL WHILE GETTING OUTOF WHEELCHAIR. C/O PAIN TO LEFT LOWER LEG.
88YOM, FELL FROM WHEELCHAIR WHILE BENDING OVER IN CHAIR, CERVICAL STRAIN, CONTUSION TOHEAD, HIP, KNEE, ABRASIONS TO FACE
71 YO F; PT LIFTED INTO BED FROM WHEELCHAIR,INJ FOREHEAD; DX: CONTUSIONFOREHEAD#
^90 Y/O F WAS IN A WHEELCHAIR IN A VAN WHEN IT MADE A TURN HER WHEELCHAIR TIPPED OVER DX: LACERATION BACK OF HEAD, CONTUSIONS FACE & R FOREARM
70 YOF FELL OUT OF WHEELCHAIR; LANDED ON FLOOR. HEMATOMA OF FOREHEAD
77 YOF UPPER ARM CONTUSION, FELL OUT OF WHEEL CHAIR AT NURSING HOME ANDSUSTAINED INJURY TO UPPER ARM ADMITTED TO HOSPITAL
63 YOM HIP CONTUSION, FELL WHEN GETTING INTO HIS WHEELCHAIR,
60 YO M HAS FALL ONTO WHEELCHAIR AT HOME STRIKING ARM. DX:DISTAL RADIUSFX.
84 Y/O/M LEANING FORWARD IN WHEELCHAIR / FELL HIT FACE ON FLOORDX: FACIAL AVULSION / NASAL CONTUSION
Product Recalls
Search for active and past recalls related to wheelchairs on the CPSC website.
Frequently Asked Questions
How dangerous are wheelchairs?
Based on 20 years of CPSC data, wheelchairs have a danger score of 47/100 (moderate risk). An estimated 123,251 ER-treated injuries occur annually in the U.S. related to this product category.
What are the most common injuries from wheelchairs?
The most common injury is internal injury to the head, accounting for approximately 81,485 injuries over 20 years.
Are injuries from wheelchairs increasing or decreasing?
No trend data.
Who is most at risk for wheelchairs injuries?
The 75+ age group accounts for the most injuries, with approximately 382,391 cases recorded over 20 years. Females are more frequently injured in this age group.
What happens when someone is injured by wheelchairs?
Of all ER visits involving wheelchairs, approximately 16.3% result in hospital admission. The majority of patients (83.7%) are treated and released from the emergency department.
How can I report a safety problem with wheelchairs?
You can file a consumer incident report at SaferProducts.gov, the official CPSC reporting portal. Reports help the CPSC identify emerging hazards and trigger investigations or recalls. You can also call the CPSC hotline at 1-800-638-2772.
Related Products in Home Medical & Assistance Devices
Safety Guides
What this means for you
Treat the 47/100 score as relative risk between products, not your personal odds of injury.
- See where this category ranks against every other tracked product. Full rankings
- Injuries cluster in the 75+ age group, take extra care if that describes your household.
- Check for active recalls on this product before you assume it is safe. CPSC recalls
NEISS estimates ER-treated injuries from a national probability sample of hospitals; they do not capture injuries treated elsewhere or not treated at all.
Data: CPSC National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS) 2005–2024 and SaferProducts.gov consumer incident reports. Injury estimates are based on a nationally representative probability sample of U.S. hospital emergency departments. This page is for informational purposes only and is not affiliated with the CPSC.
Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, scored, and verified.
