The reliability of the American Community Survey for injury surveillance.

Few of the socioeconomic indicators previously used to measure injury disparities are consistently reliable across all ACS data cycles. Researchers should be judicious when selecting consecutive multiyear data cycles to approximate changes in annual socioeconomic conditions. Among the indicators that are reliable, it is advisable to use estimates from the annual ACS data cycle as a crude barometer of injury inequalities and the multiyear files to confirm and add precedence to national trends every three and five years.