America's Children: Key National Indicators of Well-Being, 2011

Adolescent Injury and Mortality

Injury accounts for close to 80 percent of adolescent deaths. Compared with younger children, adolescents ages 15–19 have much higher mortality rates overall and from injuries. Adolescents are much more likely to die from injuries sustained from motor vehicle traffic crashes and firearms than are younger children.⁹² The leading causes of nonfatal injuries in adolescents also differ from those in younger children. For example, the leading cause of adolescent nonfatal injury is being struck by or against an object or person, whereas for younger children, the leading cause of nonfatal injury is falls (see PHY7.A). In addition, nonfatal injuries for adolescents more often result from violence, sports-related activities, or motor vehicle traffic crashes. For each fatal injury among adolescents, there are 12 injury-related hospitalizations and nearly 260 injury-related emergency department visits.⁸⁹

Indicator Phys8.A: Emergency department visit rates for adolescents ages 15–19 by leading causes of injury visits, 2007–2008

• In 2007–2008, the leading causes of injury-related emergency department visits among adolescents ages 15–19 were being struck by or against an object or person (29 visits per 1,000), falls (26 visits per 1,000), and motor vehicle traffic crashes (21 visits per 1,000), altogether accounting for more than half of the 137.1 injury-related emergency department visits for this age group.
• Injury-related emergency department visits for adolescents being struck by or against an object or person were most often the result of an assault (28 percent) or a sports-related activity (25 percent).⁹⁰
• Injuries caused by cutting or piercing from instruments or objects, overexertion from excessive physical exercise or strenuous movements in recreational or other activities, poisonings, and natural or environmental factors were also among the leading causes of injury-related emergency department visits among adolescents ages 15–19, ranging from 5 to 10 visits per 1,000 adolescents.
• Emergency department visit rates for poisonings among adolescents ages 15–19 (6.0 visits per 1,000) were similar to rates among children ages 1–4 (5.9 visits per 1,000) and higher than rates among children ages 5–14 (1.4 visits per 1,000).
• For adolescents ages 15–19, 2 percent of injury-related emergency department visits resulted in hospitalizations.⁹⁰

Indicator Phys8.B: Death rates among adolescents ages 15–19 by all causes and all injury causes and selected mechanisms of injury, 1980–2009

• The death rate for adolescents ages 15–19 declined to 53.4 per 100,000 in 2009 from 57.7 per 100,000 in 2008 and 61.9 per 100,000 in 2007.
• Almost four-fifths of adolescent deaths are from injuries. In 2009, the injury death rate was 39 per 100,000, which is a decline from the injury death rate of 44 per 100,000 in 2008. The injury death rate has decreased by half since 1980, despite a period of increase in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
• In 2007, about 70 percent of injury deaths among adolescents were related to either motor vehicle traffic (21 per 100,000) or firearms (12 per 100,000). Since 1980, the motor vehicle traffic death rate has decreased by nearly 50 percent. From 1980 to 1987, the firearm death rate was relatively steady, from 1987 to 1994 the rate increased, and since 1994 the rate declined by more than one half.
• Injury deaths can also be reported by intent. In 2007, unintentional injury accounted for more than 60 percent of all injury deaths (30 per 100,000) among adolescents.
• In 2007, homicides accounted for 21 percent of injury deaths and suicide accounted for 14 percent of injury deaths. In 2007, there were 10 homicides per 100,000 adolescents; 85 percent of the homicides were firearm related. There were 7 suicide deaths per 100,000 adolescents; over 40 percent of the suicides were firearm related.

 PHY8A HTML Table, PHY8B HTML Table