Health Indicator Report of Child injury deaths
The death of a child is a tragedy for families and communities. Injury deaths are mostly preventable, yet they continue to account for the majority of all teen deaths (13-17) and a substantial portion of other child deaths (0-12).
From 2012 to 2021, injury deaths accounted for 1,040 (24.4%) of the 4,255 deaths among children aged 0-17. In addition to these deaths, thousands of other children were injured and treated in hospitals, doctor's offices, clinics, emergency departments, homes, schools, and work sites.
From 2012 to 2021, the leading causes of injury death for children aged 0-17 in Utah were unintentional motor vehicle crashes, self-inflicted firearms wounds (suicides), suffocation (suicides), unintentional suffocation (infant safe sleep-related), and unintentional drowning/submersion.
Preventing child injury deaths and ensuring safe, stable, nurturing relationships and environments for every child should always be a continued priority. Achieving this requires support from all levels of the socioecological model. Individuals, families, schools, neighbors, communities, and policymakers all have responsibilities in keeping Utah children safe and thriving. Safe behaviors should be taught, modeled, and enforced, safety equipment should be readily available, understood, and required, and every child should feel the support of caring adults around them to turn to in a crisis. High-priority prevention areas include suicide prevention, motor vehicle safety, safe sleep education, and firearm safety.
Note that the rate of overall child injury death for each age group is not correctly captured in the above figure since deaths from only 6 of the leading causes of child death have been presented. Still, infants (0-1) and older children (15-17) have comparatively higher rates of child injury death than the other identified age groups from 2012-2021. The higher rate of infant injury death was primarily due to higher rates of suffocation death. The 15 to 17-year-olds, however, see the highest rate of child injury death that are driven by higher rates of firearm death (suicides and homicides), motor vehicle death, poisoning deaths, and also suffocation. Suffocation deaths for 15 to 17 years olds are primarily associated with suicide, while infant suffocations are unintentional safe sleep-related deaths.
Leading Causes of Child Injury Death by Age Group, Utah Children Aged 0-17, 2012-2021
Notes
ICD-10 codes V01-Y36, Y85-Y87, Y89, *U01-*U03. [[br]]*Use caution in interpreting; the estimate has a coefficient of variation >30% and is therefore deemed unreliable by Utah Department of Health standards. [[br]]**The estimate has been suppressed because 1) the relative standard error is greater than 50% or can't be determined or 2) the observed number of events is very small and not appropriate for publication.Data Sources
- Utah Death Certificate Database, Office of Vital Records and Statistics, Utah Department of Health
- Population Estimates: National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) through a collaborative agreement with the U.S. Census Bureau, IBIS Version 2018
Definition
Injury deaths among children aged 0-17 due to all causes per 100,000 children (ICD-10 codes V01-Y36, Y85-Y87, Y89, *U01-*U03)Numerator
Number of injury deaths among children aged 0-17 (ICD-10 codes V01-Y36, Y85-Y87, Y89, *U01-*U03)Denominator
Total number of children aged 0-17 in the Utah populationHealthy People Objective IVP-1.1:
Reduce fatal injuriesU.S. Target: 53.7 deaths per 100,000 population
State Target: 57 deaths per 100,000 population
What Is Being Done?
The Utah Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) Violence and Injury Prevention Program (VIPP) organizes the Child Fatality Review Committee (CFRC) a prevention-focused review of all child injury deaths in the state. Reports are released annually with data and recommendations for the prevention of child injury death that can be found on the VIPP website, [[br]][https://vipp.health.utah.gov/essentials-for-childhood-data/].Available Services
Utah Department of Health, Violence and Injury Prevention Program [[br]]801-538-6141 [[br]][http://health.utah.gov/vipp/] Utah Poison Control Center [[br]]801-581-7504 (for general information) [[br]]1-800-222-1222 (emergency hotline) [[br]][https://poisoncontrol.utah.edu/] Use Only As Directed [[br]][http://useonlyasdirected.org/] Utah Fire Marshal [[br]]801-284-6350 [[br]][http://firemarshal.utah.gov/] Utah SAFE KIDS Coalition [[br]]801-538-6852 [[br]][https://www.safekids.org/coalition/safe-kids-utah] Primary Children's Hospital [[br]]801-588-2000 [[br]][https://intermountainhealthcare.org/locations/primary-childrens-hospital/] Utah Office of Highway Safety [[br]]801-293-2480 [[br]][https://highwaysafety.utah.gov/] Utah Safety Council [[br]]801-262-5400 [[br]][http://www.utahsafetycouncil.org] Intermountain Injury Control & Research Center [[br]]801-581-6410 [[br]][http://medicine.utah.edu/pediatrics/critical_care/research/iicrc.php] Utah AAA [[br]]801-364-5615 [[br]][https://mountainwest.aaa.com/] ===National Resources:=== National Center for Injury Prevention and Control [[br]][http://www.cdc.gov/injury/] National Highway Transportation Safety Administration [[br]][http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/] National SAFE KIDS Campaign [[br]][http://www.safekids.org/] Children's Safety Network [[br]][http://www.childrenssafetynetwork.org/] U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission [[br]][http://www.cpsc.gov/] [[br]] ==Health Program Information== The VIPP collaborates with the Utah Office of Highway Safety, Zero Fatalities campaign, and local health departments to conduct educational campaigns which target 16- to 19-year-old drivers, young pedestrians, law enforcement, etc. as funding allows. The Utah SAFE KIDS Coalition works to prevent unintentional injuries among children through raising community awareness, influencing policies, promoting safety, and establishing private/public partnerships. Inspections and instructions on the proper use of car seats, booster seats, and bicycle helmets are offered routinely to the public with car seat checkpoints and helmet education and distribution statewide. The Violence and Injury Prevention Program (VIPP) is a trusted and comprehensive resource for data related to violence and injury. Through education, this information helps promote partnerships and programs to prevent injuries and improve public health. The VIPP goals are to a) focus prevention efforts on reducing intentional and unintentional injury, b) conduct education aimed at increasing awareness and changing behaviors that contribute to the occurrence of injury, c) strengthen local health department capacity to conduct local injury prevention programs, d) promote legislation, policy changes, and enforcement that will reduce injury hazards and increase safe behaviors, e) collaborate with private and public partners, and f) improve the Utah Department of Health capacity to collect mortality and morbidity data from multiple sources and conduct injury epidemiology for use in prevention planning, implementation, and evaluation.
Page Content Updated On 02/21/2023,
Published on 02/22/2023