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Health Topics
Injury & Violence (including suicide)
Unintentional Injuries, Violence, and the Health of Young People
Unintentional Injuries & Violence
Injuries include unintentional injuries (such as those caused by motor
vehicle crashes and fires) and intentional injuries (violence and
suicide).
- An injury is defined as "unintentional or intentional damage to the
body resulting from acute exposure to thermal, mechanical, electrical,
or chemical energy or from the absence of such essentials as heat or
oxygen."1
- Injuries are not accidents. They can be prevented by changing the
environment, individual behavior, products, social norms, legislation,
and governmental and institutional policy.
- Injuries are the leading cause of death and disability for people
aged 1 to 34 years in the United States.2
- Injuries requiring medical attention, or resulting in restricted
activity, affect more than 20 million children and adolescents (250 per
1,000 persons) and cost $17 billion annually for medical treatment.3
- Violence is the "threatened or actual use of physical force or
power against another person, against oneself, or against a group or
community, that either results in or has a high likelihood of resulting
in injury, death, or deprivation."4
Leading Causes of Injury Mortality and Morbidity Among Children and
Adolescents
- Approximately 67% of all deaths among children and
adolescents aged 5-19 years result from injury-related causes:
48% from
motor vehicle injuries (occupants and pedestrians combined), 21% from
all other unintentional injuries, 16% from homicides, and 14% from
suicides.5
Motor Vehicle-Related Injuries
- Among children and adolescents aged 5 to 19 years, 68% of unintentional
injury deaths are due to motor vehicle crashes.5
- Traffic-related injuries also include those sustained while walking,
riding a bicycle, or riding a motorcycle. In 2005, 29% of motor vehicle-related deaths were bicyclists.6
Five Leading Causes of Death
and Number of Deaths
United States�05, Ages 5�
Rank |
Ages 5-9 |
Ages 10-14 |
Ages 15-19 |
1 |
Unintentional Injury
1,072 |
Unintentional Injury
1,343 |
Unintentional Injury
6,616 |
2 |
Malignant Neoplasms
485 |
Malignant Neoplasms
515 |
Homicide
2,076 |
3 |
Congenital Anomalies
196 |
Suicide
270 |
Suicide
1,613 |
4 |
Homicide
121 |
Homicide
220 |
Malignant Neoplasms
731 |
5 |
Heart Disease
106 |
Congenital Anomalies
200 |
Heart Disease
389 |
|
Source: WISQARS5
Violence
- In the United States, minority males bear most of the burden of
homicide victimization. In 2005, among males aged 15 to 19 years,
the homicide rate was 3.5 per 100,000 among white non-Hispanics; 7.9 per 100,000
among Asian/Pacific Islanders; 15.4 per 100,000* among American
Indian/Alaskan Natives; 27.8 per 100,000 among Hispanics; and 62.1
per 100,000 among Blacks.5
- In 2007, 15% of high school students seriously considered
attempting suicide, and 11% made a plan about how they would attempt
suicide during the 12 months preceding the survey.7
- The United States child homicide rate, 2.6 per 100,000 for children
less than 15 years of age, is five times greater than the combined
rate of 25 other industrialized countries.8
- An estimated 302,100 women and 92,700 men are forcibly raped each
year in the United States. More than half (54%) of the female rape
victims were less than 18 years of age, and 22% were less than 12
years of age when they were first raped.9
* Total number of deaths = 20. Rates based
upon 20 or fewer deaths may be unstable. Use with caution.
Five Leading Causes of Injury Death
and Number of Injury Deaths
United States�05, Ages 5-195
Rank |
Ages 5-9 |
Ages 10-14 |
Ages 15-19 |
1 |
Unintentional Motor Vehicle Traffic
560 |
Unintentional Motor Vehicle Traffic
763 |
Unintentional Motor Vehicle Traffic
4,829 |
2 |
Unintentional Fire/Burn
138 |
Suicide/Suffocation
172 |
Homicide Firearm
1,742 |
3 |
Unintentional Drowning
121 |
Homicide Firearm
143 |
Suicide Firearm
738 |
4 |
Unintentional Other Land Transport
47 |
Unintentional Drowning
132 |
Suicide/Suffocation
644 |
5 |
Homicide Firearm
44
|
Unintentional Fire/Burn
85 |
Unintentional Poisoning
637 |
Unintentional Suffocation
44
|
|
Source: WISQARS5
Context of Injury Occurrence
- Approximately 4 million children and adolescents are injured at
school each year.3
- More than 1 million serious sports-related injuries occur
each year to adolescents aged 10-17 years.10
- In 2005, firearms were the mechanism of injury in
approximately 84% of homicides and 46% of suicides among
children and adolescents aged 5-19 years.5
- From 1997 to 2002, 9,622 child passengers aged 0 to 14 years
died in motor vehicle crashes. Of
these children, 2,335 (24%) were killed in crashes involving
drinking drivers, and 68% of the deaths occurred while the child
was riding with the drinking driver.11
References
- U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Healthy People 2010.
2nd ed. 2 vols. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 2000.
- Minino AM, Anderson RN, Fingerhut LA, Boudreault MA,
Warner M. Deaths: Injuries, 2002. National Vital
Statistics Reports; 54(10): 1-125.
- Danseco ER, Miller TR, Spicer RS. Incidence and costs of 1987�94
childhood injuries: demographic break downs. Pediatrics
2000;105(2).
- Foege WH, Rosenberg ML, Mercy JA. Public health and violence
prevention. Current Issues in Public Health 1995;1:2�
- CDC, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Office of
Statistics and Programming. Web-based Injury Statistics Query and
Reporting System (WISQARS). Online at
http://www.cdc.gov/ncipc/wisqars/. Accessed
October 8, 2008.
- National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Traffic Safety Fact: 2005 data, bicyclists and other cyclists.
http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/pdf/nrd-30/NCSA/TSF2005/810617.pdf [pdf
310K].
- CDC. Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance - United
States, 2007. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report 2008;
57 (SS-4): 1-131.
- CDC. Rates of homicide, suicide, and firearm related deaths among
children� industrialized countries. Morbidity & Mortality Weekly
Report 1997;46:101�
- Tjaden P, Thoennes N. Full report of the prevalence, incidence, and
consequences of violence against women: Findings from the National
Violence Against Women Survey. Report for grant 93-IJ-CX-0012, funded by
the National Institute of Justice and the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention. Washington (DC): National Institute of Justice; 2000.
- Bijur PE, Trumble A, Harel Y, Overpeck MD, Jones D, Scheidt PC.
Sports and recreation injuries in US children and adolescents. Archives
of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine 1995; 149:1009�.
- Shults RA. Child passenger deaths involving drinking drivers桿nited
States, 1997�02. Morbidity & Mortality Weekly Report
2004;53(4):77�.
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