Locating and Using the Data
Why Collect and Analyze Injury and Violence Data?
Nearly 43,000 children and adolescents aged 0-19 died in the U.S. in 2023, and more than one-third
of those deaths (37.1%) were attributed to injuries and violence.
Injury deaths have a profound and lasting effect on the children’s families, while also generating broader societal repercussions that extend across communities and public systems.
Given the toll of injury and violence, data are important tools for public health practitioners and professionals to help define the extent and types of injury and violence that are occurring in our communities, decide where we need to concentrate our prevention efforts, and compare the injury and violence trends and patterns in one community with that in other communities.
Questions that can be answered using child and adolescent injury and violence data include:
- To what extent is injury and violence occurring?
- What types of injury and violent incidents are occurring? For example, unintentional (i.e., accidental injuries from various causes, such as motor vehicle traffic, poisoning, and drowning), homicide, assaults, suicide attempts, and suicide deaths.
- In what areas are these incidents taking place? For example, rural communities versus urban communities.
- In which particular locations are these incidents taking place? For example, specific counties and towns.
- What are the demographic characteristics of the victims, such as age, sex, race, and ethnicity?
- How serious are the injuries sustained in these incidents? For example, fatal, or require emergency room care or hospitalization.
- What are the circumstances under which these injuries occur? For example, alcohol or other drug involvement.
- How does one community, city, county, or state compare with others in the amount (or types) of injury and violence it experiences?