9.1: Introduction to Intentional and Unintentional Injuries

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Throughout the world, injuries, both unintentional and violence-related, take the lives of 4.4 million people each year (nearly 8% of all deaths). For people ages 5-29, three of the top five causes of death are injury-related. In the United States, unintentional injuries are the leading cause of death in children, adolescents, and adults younger than 45 years. In 2018, unintentional injuries were the cause of 24.8 million people to visit their doctor and 97.9 million to visit the emergency room with an additional 1.2 million visited the emergency room due to an assault. Unintentional injuries ranked as the 4th overall leading cause of death in 1980, increased to the 3rd leading cause of death by 2018, and moved back to 4th in 2020 when COVID took the 3rd ranking. Some good news is that data from 1950-2018 show a reduction in deaths due to unintentional injuries from 78 per 100,000 to 48 per 100,000, however homicide has remained relatively the same from 5.1 to 5.9 per 100,000 people ^[1].

Injuries and violence cost billions of dollars each year in health care costs, lost productivity and law enforcement. There are also numerous costs to personal well-being including:

Premature death
Years of potential life lost
Disability and disability-adjusted life years lost
Poor mental health
Increased risk of suicide
High medical costs
Lost productivity
Chronic diseases like heart disease, diabetes and cancer
Social problems such as poverty, crime and violence

Both intentional and unintentional injuries are public health concerns that are addressed worldwide and in the U.S. The National Center for Injury Prevention and Control (NCIPC) was launched in 1992 to focus specifically on injuries as an important topic for public health. The NCIPC, along with the CDC and NIH, provide research-based evidence and resources to meet goals to reduce injuries.

Table \(\PageIndex{1}\) : Year 2020 Intentional and Unintentional Death Rates^[2]
Cause of Death	Number of Deaths	Deaths per 100,000 people
Unintentional fall deaths	42,112	12.8
Motor Vehicle traffic deaths	40,698	12.4
Unintentional Poisoning deaths	87,404	26.5
All poisoning deaths	97,034	29.5
Firearm homicides	19,384	5.9
All firearm deaths	45,222	13.7
All homicide deaths	24,576	7.5
Firearm suicides	24,292	7.4
Suffocation suicides	12,495	3.8
Poisoning suicides	5,528	1.7
All suicides	45,979	14.0
All injury deaths	278,345	84.5
All unintentional deaths	200,995	61