Abstract

Injuries and violence among young people have a substantial emotional, physical, and economic toll on society. Understanding the epidemiology of this public health problem can guide prevention efforts, help identify and reduce risk factors, and promote protective factors. We examined fatal and nonfatal unintentional injuries, injuries intentionally inflicted by other (i.e., assaults and homicides) among children ages 0–19, and intentionally self-inflicted injuries (i.e., self-harm and suicides) among children ages 10–19. We accessed deaths (1999–2015) and visits to emergency departments (2001–2015) for these age groups through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Web-based Injury Statistics Query and Reporting System (WISQARS), and examined trends and differences by age, sex, race/ethnicity, rural/urban status, and injury mechanism. Almost 13,000 children and adolescents age 0–19 years died in 2015 from injury and violence compared to over 17,000 in 1999. While the overall number of deaths has decreased over time, there were increases in death rates among certain age groups for some categories of unintentional injury and for suicides. The leading causes of injury varied by age group. Our results indicate that efforts to reduce injuries to children and adolescents should consider cause, intent, age, sex, race, and regional factors to assure that prevention resources are directed at those at greatest risk.

Highlights

  • Injuries and violence among young people continue to have a substantial emotional, physical, and economic toll on society

  • The purpose of this study is to use recent U.S data to examine in detail the epidemiology of injuries among children ages 0–19 years by age, sex, race/ethnicity, rural/urban status, and injury mechanism

  • Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval was not needed for this study

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Summary

Introduction

Injuries and violence among young people continue to have a substantial emotional, physical, and economic toll on society. A child dies every hour in the United States from an injury or violent act, and over 30% of all deaths among children age 1–19 years are from injuries or violence [1,2]. Another 22,200 children on average are seen every day in U.S emergency departments (ED) seeking treatment for nonfatal injuries [1,2]. Injuries can have lasting consequences and result in a substantial economic burden on society. Injuries to U.S children 0–19 years of age result in an estimated $94 billion in lifetime medical and work-loss costs [1]

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