Violent death rates in the US compared to those of the other high-income countries, 2015 (original) (raw)
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Violent Death Rates: The United States Compared to Other High-Income OECD Countries, 2010
The American journal of medicine, 2015
Violent death is a serious problem in the US. Previous research showing US rates of violent death compared with other high-income countries used data that are more than a decade old. We examined 2010 mortality data obtained from the WHO for populous, high-income countries (n=23). Death rates per 100,000 population were calculated for each country and for the aggregation of all non-US countries overall and by age and sex. Tests of significance were performed using Poisson and negative binomial regressions. US homicide rates were 7.0 times higher than other high-income countries, driven by a gun homicide rate that was 25.2 times higher. For 15-24 year olds, the gun homicide rate in the US was 49.0 times higher. Firearm-related suicide rates were 8.0 times higher in the US but our overall suicide rates were average. Unintentional firearm deaths were 6.2 times higher in the US. The overall firearm death rate in the US from all causes was 10.0 times higher. Ninety percent of women, 91% o...
USA Violent Cause Mortality: Analysis of Trends and the Political Controversies of Prevention
ATHENS JOURNAL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES, 2020
Population adjusted violent cause mortality (VCM) is higher in the United States than any of the other developed nations. This paper examines data available to compare international differences as well as U.S. within group patterns of suicide, homicide, murder-suicide, familicide and mass public fatalities (mass shootings) by sex and age. The majority of weapons used in U.S. VCM events are firearms, but they vary in the capacity to injure and kill victims. Adding to the conditions, the estimated rate of private gun possession has recently increased. Our research compares the U.S. with international data from a number of sources. To better understand violent cause mortality within the U.S., we analyze national level data from the Center for Disease Control Web-based Injury Statistics Query and Reporting System (CDC WISQARS), 32 years of FBI Supplemental Homicide Reports (SHR), news surveillance Intimate Partner Homicide Suicide (IPHS) and key findings from a mass shootings data archive. We then describe the cultural and political context across various states in the U.S. and the forces working in favor and against violence prevention.
Trends and Disparities in Firearm Fatalities in the United States, 1990-2021
JAMA network open, 2022
IMPORTANCE Firearm fatality rates in the United States have reached a 28-year high. Describing the evolution of firearm fatality rates across intents, demographics, and geography over time may highlight high-risk groups and inform interventions for firearm injury prevention. OBJECTIVE To understand variations in rates of firearm fatalities stratified by intent, demographics, and geography in the US. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS This cross-sectional study analyzed firearm fatalities in the US from 1990 to 2021 using data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Heat maps, maximum and mean fatality rate graphs, and choropleth maps of county-level rates were created to examine trends in firearm fatality rates by intent over time by age, sex, race, ethnicity, and urbanicity of individuals who died from firearms. Data were analyzed from December 2018 through September 2022. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES Rates of firearm fatalities by age, sex, race, ethnicity, urbanicity, and county of individuals killed stratified by specific intent (suicide or homicide) per 100 000 persons per year. RESULTS There were a total of 1 110 421 firearm fatalities from 1990 to 2021 (952 984 among males [85.8%] and 157 165 among females [14.2%]; 286 075 among Black non-Hispanic individuals [25.8%], 115 616 among Hispanic individuals [10.4%], and 672 132 among White non-Hispanic individuals [60.5%]). All-intents total firearm fatality rates per 100 000 persons declined to a low of 10.1 fatalities in 2004, then increased to 14.7 fatalities (45.5% increase) by 2021. From 2014 to 2021, male and female firearm homicide rates per 100 000 persons per year increased from 5.9 to 10.9 fatalities (84.7% increase) and 1.1 to 2.0 fatalities (87.0% increase), respectively. Firearm suicide rates were highest among White non-Hispanic men aged 80 to 84 years (up to 46.8 fatalities/100 000 persons in 2021). By 2021, maximum rates of firearm homicide were up to 22.5 times higher among Black non-Hispanic men (up to 141.8 fatalities/100 000 persons aged 20-24 years) and up to 3.6 times higher among Hispanic men (up to 22.8 fatalities/100 000 persons aged 20-24 years) compared with White non-Hispanic men (up to 6.3 fatalities/100 000 persons aged 30-34 years). Males had higher rates of suicide (14.1 fatalities vs 2.0 fatalities per 100 000 persons in 2021) and homicide (10.9 fatalities vs. 2.0 fatalities per 100 000 persons in 2021) compared with females. Metropolitan areas had higher homicide rates than nonmetropolitan areas (6.6 fatalities vs 4.8 fatalities per 100 000 persons in 2021). Firearm fatalities by county level increased over time, spreading from the West to the South. From 1999 to 2011 until 2014 to 2016, fatalities per 100 000 persons per year decreased from 10.6 to 10.5 fatalities in Western states and increased from 12.8 to 13.9 fatalities in Southern states. (continued) Key Points Question How have firearm fatality rates varied over a 32-year period in the United States? Findings In this cross-sectional study of 1 110 421 firearm fatalities, all-intent firearm fatality rates declined to a low in 2004, then increased 45.5% by 2021. Firearm homicides were highest among Black non-Hispanic males, and firearm suicide rates were highest among White non-Hispanic men ages 70 years and older. Meaning This study found marked disparities in firearm fatality rates between men and women and by racial and ethnic group, and these disparities increased in recent years.
The Journal of Trauma: Injury, Infection, and Critical Care, 2011
Background: Violent death is a major public health problem in the United States and throughout the world. Methods: A cross-sectional analysis of the World Health Organization Mortality Database analyzes homicides and suicides (both disaggregated as firearm related and non-firearm related) and unintentional and undetermined firearm deaths from 23 populous high-income Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development countries that provided data to the World Health Organization for 2003. Results: The US homicide rates were 6.9 times higher than rates in the other high-income countries, driven by firearm homicide rates that were 19.5 times higher. For 15-year olds to 24-year olds, firearm homicide rates in the United States were 42.7 times higher than in the other countries. For US males, firearm homicide rates were 22.0 times higher, and for US females, firearm homicide rates were 11.4 times higher. The US firearm suicide rates were 5.8 times higher than in the other countries, though overall suicide rates were 30% lower. The US unintentional firearm deaths were 5.2 times higher than in the other countries. Among these 23 countries, 80% of all firearm deaths occurred in the United States, 86% of women killed by firearms were US women, and 87% of all children aged 0 to 14 killed by firearms were US children.
British Journal of Education, Society & Behavioural Science, 2015
Aims: Among advanced nations, the United States stands alone in its level of everyday violence, especially the number of citizens killed by gunfire. Debate about causes and cures ignores wide variances in rates of violent death among states and is focused on homicide to the neglect of suicide, resulting in skewed public perceptions of risk. To better inform policy discussion about gun violence, we delineate the distribution of risk for violent death from homicide and suicide across states and estimate the possible influence of gun ownership prevalence and state gun law strength on risk differences. Methodology: We compare age-adjusted mortality rates per 100,000 population for violent deaths by intent and mechanism in 16 states from 2005 through 2009.We then estimate bivariate
The Lancet Public Health, 2019
Background Firearm mortality is a leading, and largely avoidable, cause of death in the USA, Mexico, Brazil, and Colombia. We aimed to assess the changes over time and demographic determinants of firearm deaths in these four countries between 1990 and 2015. Methods In this comparative analysis of firearm mortality, we examined national vital statistics data from 1990-2015 from four publicly available data repositories in the USA, Mexico, Brazil, and Colombia. We extracted medicallycertified deaths and underlying population denominators to calculate the age-specific and sex-specific firearm deaths and the risk of firearm mortality at the national and subnational level, by education for all four countries, and by race or ethnicity for the USA and Brazil. Analyses were stratified by intent (homicide, suicide, unintentional, or undetermined). We quantified avoidable mortality for each country using the lowest number of subnational agespecific and period-specific death rates. Findings Between 1990 and 2015, 106•3 million medically-certified deaths were recorded, including 2 472 000 firearm deaths, of which 851 000 occurred in the USA, 272 000 in Mexico, 855 000 in Brazil, and 494 000 in Colombia. Homicides accounted for most of the firearm deaths in Mexico (225 000 [82•7%]), Colombia (463 000 [93•8%]), and Brazil (766 000 [89•5%]). Suicide accounted for more than half of all firearm deaths in the USA (479 000 [56•3%]). In each country, firearm mortality was highest among men aged 15-34 years, accounting for up to half of the total risk of death in that age group. During the study period, firearm mortality risks increased in Mexico and Brazil but decreased in the USA and Colombia, with marked national and subnational geographical variation. Young men with low educational attainment were at increased risk of firearm homicide in all four countries, and in the USA and Brazil, black and brown men, respectively, were at the highest risk. The risk of firearm homicide was 14 times higher in black men in the USA aged 25-34 years with low educational attainment than comparably-educated white men (1•52% [99% CI 1•50-1•54] vs 0•11% [0•10-0•12]), and up to four times higher than in comparably-educated men in Brazil, Colombia, and Mexico. In the USA, the risk of firearm homicide was more than 30 times higher in black men with post-secondary education than comparably educated white men. If countries could achieve the same firearm mortality rates nationally as in their lowest-burden states, 1 777 800 firearm deaths at all ages and in both sexes could be avoided, including 1 028 000 deaths in men aged 15-34 years. Interpretation Firearm mortality in the USA, Mexico, Brazil, and Colombia is highest among young adult men, and is strongly associated with race and ethnicity, and low education levels. Reductions in firearm deaths would improve life expectancy, particularly for black men in the USA, and would reduce racial and educational disparities in mortality.
Homicide Trends in the United States
Demography, 1980
Unlike most other causes of death, homicide has been increasing in the United States, especially since the mid-1960s. Its impact is greatest among nonwhite men. The elimination of homicide would add approximately one and one-half years to their life span. This analysis examines trends and differentials using vital statistics data about homicide victims. A decomposition of components of change reveals that almost all of the rise in homicide mortality among nonwhites and a substantial fraction of the rise among whites results from the increasing use of firearms to kill people.
Social Science & Medicine, 2007
Two of every three American homicide victims are killed with firearms, yet little is known about the role played by household firearms in homicide victimization. The present study is the first to examine the cross sectional association between household firearm ownership and homicide victimization across the 50 US states, by age and gender, using nationally representative state-level survey-based estimates of household firearm ownership. Household firearm prevalence for each of the 50 states was obtained from the 2001 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System. Homicide mortality data for each state were aggregated over the three-year study period, 2001-2003. Analyses controlled for state-level rates of aggravated assault, robbery, unemployment, urbanization, per capita alcohol consumption, and a resource deprivation index (a construct that includes median family income, the percentage of families living beneath the poverty line, the Gini index of family income inequality, the percentage of the population that is black and the percentage of families headed by a single female parent). Multivariate analyses found that states with higher rates of household firearm ownership had significantly higher homicide victimization rates of men, women and children. The association between firearm prevalence and homicide victimization in our study was driven by gun-related homicide victimization rates; non-gun-related victimization rates were not significantly associated with rates of firearm ownership. Although causal inference is not warranted on the basis of the present study alone, our findings suggest that the household may be an important source of firearms used to kill men, women and children in the United States.
BMJ open, 2014
To document overall, racial, ethnic and intent-specific spatiotemporal trends of firearm-related fatality rates (FRF rates) in the USA. Cross-sectional study per year from 2000 to 2010. Aggregate count of all people in the USA from 2000 to 2010. Data from the Web-based Injury Statistics Query and Reporting System from 2000 to 2010 was used to determine annual FRF rates per 100,000 and by states, race, ethnicity and intent. The average national 11-year FRF rate was 10.21/100,000, from 3.02 in Hawaii to 18.62 in Louisiana: 60% of states had higher than national rates and 41 states showed no temporal change. The average national FRF rates among African-Americans and Caucasians were 18.51 and 9.05/100,000 and among Hispanics and non-Hispanics were 7.13 and 10.13/100,000; Hispanics had a decreasing change of -0.18, p trend<0.0001. In states with increasing trends (Florida and Massachusetts), Caucasians and non-Hispanics drove the rise; while in states with decreasing trends (Californi...