Abstract
This study aimed to illustrate the impact of injury-related deaths on life expectancy in China in 2016 and to identify the high-risk population. Standard life tables were used to calculate life expectancy and cause-eliminated life expectancy by utilizing mortality data from the national mortality surveillance system. In 2016, the life expectancy of Chinese residents was 78.91 years. After eliminating injury-related mortality, the life expectancy of the residents increased by 1.13 years, which was higher in male and rural residents compared with female and urban residents. The life expectancy on the Eastern and Central regions increased slowly compared with the Western region. The greatest influencing factor on life expectancy was road traffic injuries, followed by falls. Falls had a greater impact on life expectancy for children under 5 years old and those aged over 65 years. This study indicates that deaths caused by injury had a noteworthy impact on life expectancy in China. More attention should be paid to road traffic injuries, and effective preventive measures should be taken to reduce deaths related to injury to increase the life expectancy of residents, especially in children under 5 years and adults over 65 years. By reducing the deaths caused by injury, the life expectancy level is likely to further improve.
Highlights
In 1996, the Harvard School of Public Health classified all diseases into injury and infectious diseases, maternal and child diseases and nutritional deficiencies, and non-communicable diseases
The increases in life expectancy was estimated at 1.13 years, showing that injury was the third leading cause of death after cardiovascular diseases (8.71 years) and cancer (2.91 years) (Figure 1)
Among the categories of injury analyzed, our study showed that the increases in life expectancy were highest after removing road traffic injuries (RTIs), followed by falls (0.19 years), suicide (0.14 years) and drowning (0.12 years)
Summary
In 1996, the Harvard School of Public Health classified all diseases into injury and infectious diseases, maternal and child diseases and nutritional deficiencies, and non-communicable diseases. Such an advancement was recognized and recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO). As part of those three groups, injury is a major public health problem, which has been paid more and more attention by the international community, governments and the public 1. Accidental injury mainly includes road traffic injuries (RTIs), poisoning, falls, fire and drowning. Intentional injury mainly includes suicide, homicide and war. High incidence of injury causes economic losses and social burdens more than any infectious diseases or chronic non-communicable diseases 2
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