1999 to 2020 Saw Rise in Poisoning, Firearm, and Injury Deaths

WEDNESDAY, July 12, 2023 (HealthDay News) -- From 1999 to 2020, death rates due to poisonings, firearms, and all other injuries increased substantially in the United States, according to a study published online July 3 in JAMA Internal Medicine.

Wayne R. Lawrence, Dr.P.H., from the U.S. National Institutes of Health in Rockville, Maryland, and colleagues examined national trends in mortality rates due to external causes (poisonings, firearms, and all other injuries) from 1999 to 2020 by intent (homicide, suicide, unintentional, and undetermined) and demographic characteristics. The analysis included data from the National Center for Health Statistics (3.8 million deaths among individuals aged 20 years and older).

The researchers found that during the study period, poisoning death rates increased annually (average annual percentage change [AAPC], 7.0 percent), with the largest increases seen from 2014 to 2020 for men (APC, 10.8 percent). Increases in poisoning death rates were seen for all racial and ethnic groups. Death rates for unintentional poisoning increased most rapidly (AAPC, 8.1 percent). Firearm death rates also increased during the study period (AAPC, 1.1 percent), with firearm mortality increasing by an average of 4.7 percent annually from 2013 to 2020 among individuals aged 20 to 39 years. Mortality from firearm homicides increased by an average of 6.9 percent annually from 2014 to 2020. Mortality rates from external causes accelerated further from 2019 to 2020, resulting from increases in unintentional poisoning and homicide due to firearms and all other injuries.

"The rapid increase in deaths due to unintentional poisonings and firearm homicides is a national emergency that requires urgent public health interventions at the local and national levels," the authors write.

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