Years of potential life lost from unintentional child and adolescent injuries — United States, 2000–2009

Abstract

IntroductionQuantifying years of potential life lost (YPLL) highlights childhood causes of mortality and provides a simple method to identify important causes of premature death. MethodsCDC analyzed data from the National Vital Statistics System multiple cause of death files for 2000–2009. ResultsAn average of 890YPLL were lost each year due to unintentional injuries for every 100,000 persons aged 0–19 years. YPLL rates differed by sex, age group, race/ethnicity, injury mechanism and state. ConclusionsThis report provides new information which can be used to prioritize interventions and identify subgroups of the population most at risk.