Injury Deaths on the Rise Among American Youth

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For Immediate Release: June 1, 2018

Contact: CDC, National Center for Health Statistics, Office of Communication (301) 458-4800
E-mail: paoquery@cdc.gov

Recent Increases in Injury Mortality Among Children and Adolescents Aged 10–19 Years in the United States: 1999–2016. National Vital Statistics Report 67 No. 4

Mortality from all three forms of injury death – unintentional injury/accidents, suicide, and homicide – have increased for children and adolescents ages 10-19 in recent years after years of sharp decline, according to a new analysis by CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics.

The numbers are featured in the report “Recent Increases in Injury Mortality Among Children and Adolescents Ages 10-19 in the United States: 1999-2016,” based on data from the National Vital Statistics System.

The report features the following highlights:

  • Unintentional injuries/accidents, the leading cause of injury death for youth ages 10-19 in 2016, increased 13% between 2013 and 2016 after declining 49% between 1999 and 2013.
  • Suicide rates for youth ages 10-19 increased 56% between 2007 and 2016, after dropping 15% between 1999 and 2007.
  • Homicide rates in this age group increased 27% between 2014 and 2016, after dropping 35% between 2007 and 2014.
  • Firearms accounted for 87% of all homicides in this age group, and for 43% of all suicides.
  • After firearms, cutting/piercing accounted for the second largest method of homicide in this age group (6%).
  • Firearms (1,102 deaths) and suffocation (1,103 deaths) accounted for the most likely method of suicide (43% each), followed by poisoning (6%). The suicide rates for all top three methods have increased lately.
  • Motor vehicle traffic fatalities accounted for the largest percentage of unintentional injury death for this age group (62%), followed by poisoning (16%) and drowning (7%), and the rate for these deaths increased 12% between 2013 and 2016 after years of decline.
  • The increase in injury deaths in recent years has contributed to a 12% increase in deaths overall for 10-19 year-olds between 2013 and 2016.

“Recent Trends in Injury Mortality Among Children and Adolescents Ages 10-19 in the United States: 1999-2016” will be available on-line at https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr67/nvsr67_04.pdf.