Rising U.S. Youth Firearm, Motor Vehicle Crash Deaths Called ‘Shameful’

There was a 28% increase in the rate of firearm deaths among U.S. children between 2013 and 2016, according to areport published today in theNew England Journal of Medicine.In all, there were more than 20,000 deaths among children and adolescents in the United States in 2016, and the majority —60%—resulted from injury-related causes. Motor vehicle crashes were the leading cause of death for children and adolescents, representing 20% of all deaths, followed by firearm-related injuries (15%), and malignant neoplasm, or cancer (9%).Declines in deaths from infectious disease or cancer have been eclipsed by increases in deaths from injury-related causes, including motor vehicle crashes, firearm injuries, and the emerging problem of opioid overdoses, wrote Rebecca M. Cunningham, M.D., a professor of emergency medicine and director of the Injury Prevention Center at the University of Michigan Medical School, and colleagues. “Although viewed as ‘accidents,’ injury prevention science increasingly shows that such deaths are preventable with evidence-based approaches,” the authors noted.Between 2013 and 2016, the firearm homicide rate and suicide rate jumped 32% and 26%, respectively. The U.S. rate of death from firearms among youth was more than 36 times as high as that in 12 other high-income countries in 2016, authors noted. Meanwhile, the rate of suicide by other means increased 15%.Among youth firearm deaths, 59% were homicides and 35% were suicides. The researchers als...
Source: Psychiatr News - Category: Psychiatry Tags: adolescents CDC WONDER children Edward W. Campion firearm deaths homicide New England Journal of Medicine Rebecca Cunningham suicide Source Type: research