Journal of Safety Research

Journal of Safety Research

Volume 78, September 2021, Pages 322-330
Journal of Safety Research

Special Report from the CDC
Unintentional injury deaths in children and youth, 2010–2019

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsr.2021.07.001Get rights and content

Abstract

Background: Unintentional injuries are the leading cause of death for children and youth aged 1–19 in the United States. The purpose of this report is to describe how unintentional injury death rates among children and youth aged 0–19 years have changed during 2010–2019. Method: CDC analyzed 2010–2019 data from the National Vital Statistics System (NVSS) to determine two-year average annual number and rate of unintentional injury deaths for children and youth aged 0–19 years by sex, age group, race/ethnicity, mechanism, county urbanization level, and state. Results: From 2010–2011 to 2018–2019, unintentional injury death rates decreased 11% overall—representing over 1,100 fewer annual deaths. However, rates increased among some groups—including an increase in deaths due to suffocation among infants (20%) and increases in motor-vehicle traffic deaths among Black children (9%) and poisoning deaths among Black (37%) and Hispanic (50%) children. In 2018–2019, rates were higher for males than females (11.3 vs. 6.6 per 100,000 population), children aged < 1 and 15–19 years (31.9 and 16.8 per 100,000) than other age groups, among American Indian or Alaska Native (AIAN) and Blacks than Whites (19.4 and 12.4 vs. 9.0 per 100,000), motor-vehicle traffic (MVT) than other causes of injury (4.0 per 100,000), and rates increased as rurality increased (6.8 most urban [large central metro] vs. 17.8 most rural [non-core/non-metro] per 100,000). From 2010–2011 to 2018–2019, 49 states plus DC had stable or decreasing unintentional injury death rates; death rates increased only in California (8%)—driven by poisoning deaths. Conclusion and Practical Application: While the overall injury death rates improved, certain subgroups and their caregivers can benefit from focused prevention strategies, including infants and Black, Hispanic, and AIAN children. Focusing effective strategies to reduce suffocation, MVT, and poisoning deaths among those at disproportionate risk could further reduce unintentional injury deaths among children and youth in the next decade.

Introduction

Unintentional injuries are the leading cause of death for children and youth aged 1–19 years and the third leading cause of death for infants aged < 1 year (CDC, 2021). In 2019, 7,444 children and youth aged 0–19 years died from unintentional injuries. This equates to an average of 20 preventable deaths each day. In addition to the immeasurable burden on the victims’ families and friends, these deaths resulted in more than $14 billion in medical and work loss costs (CDC, 2021).

Gilchrist, Ballesteros, and Parker (2012) previously reported on injury deaths among persons aged 0–19 from 2000 to 2009. During 2000–2009, there was a 29% decline in the unintentional injury death rate among children and youth aged 0–19 years. Despite this decline, the burden of unintentional injury deaths remained high among children and youth with more than 9,100 unintentional injury deaths occurring in 2009.

This report describes change in two-year average annual number and rate of unintentional injury deaths among children and youth aged 0–19 years from 2010–2019 in the United States, by sex, age group, race/ethnicity, mechanism, county urbanization level, and state.

Section snippets

Methods

Data on unintentional injury deaths among children and youth aged 0–19 years for the years 2010–2019 were obtained using Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Wide-ranging Online Data for Epidemiologic Research (WONDER). CDC WONDER provides a comprehensive collection of public-use data, including mortality data for U.S. residents obtained from the National Vital Statistics System. Mortality data are based on information from all death certificates filed in the 50 states and the District of Columbia

Results

Overall unintentional injury rates among children and youth aged 0–19 years decreased 11% from 2010–2011 to 2018–2019, from 10.1 to 9.0 per 100,000 population (Table 1). An average of 7,406 children and youth died each year during 2018–2019, while 8,579 died on average each year during 2010–2011. However, during this time, death rates increased among children aged < 1 year (11%) and Black children (9%), and by mechanism of injury, deaths by suffocation increased (12%). In 2018–2019, death rates

Discussion

Overall unintentional injury death rates among children and youth aged 0–19 years decreased 11% from 2010–2019. Decreases were observed for the majority of mechanisms of unintentional injury examined, representing over 1,100 fewer annual deaths in children and youth from 2010–2011 to 2018–2019. Notable decreases were observed among youth aged 15–19 years and in rural counties, mainly attributed to a reduction in MVT deaths among White children. However, injury death rates increased among some

Disclaimer

The findings and conclusions in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official position of the CDC.

Bethany West, MPH, has served as an epidemiologist on the Transportation Safety Team in the Injury Center since 2008. She works to prevent motor vehicle-related injuries and deaths among vulnerable populations including children, older adults, and minorities.

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  • Cited by (0)

    Bethany West, MPH, has served as an epidemiologist on the Transportation Safety Team in the Injury Center since 2008. She works to prevent motor vehicle-related injuries and deaths among vulnerable populations including children, older adults, and minorities.

    Rose Rudd, MSPH, has served as a health scientist on the Transportation Safety Team in the Injury Center. Her work focus includes data linkage and preventing motor vehicle-related injuries and deaths.

    Erin Sauber-Schatz, PhD, MPH, serves as the team lead of the Transportation Safety Team in the Division of Injury Prevention at CDC’s Injury Center. As a team lead, she is responsible for overseeing CDC’s transportation safety research and activities. The team’s focus areas include impaired driving, data linkage, seat belt use, child passenger safety, and older adult mobility.

    Dr. Michael F. Ballesteros, is the Deputy Associate Director for Science of the Division of Injury Prevention; National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, CDC. His research interests include injury surveillance systems, unintentional injuries, and global health. Dr. Ballesteros received a PhD in Epidemiology and is a graduate of CDC’s Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS) program.

    The Journal of Safety Research has partnered with the Office of the Associate Director for Science, Division of Injury Prevention, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control at the CDC in Atlanta, Georgia, USA, to briefly report on some of the latest findings in the research community. This report is the 67th in a series of "Special Report from the CDC" articles on injury prevention.

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