Citation

Sehgal AR. Am. J. Med. 2020; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Affiliation

Center for Reducing Health Disparities, Case Western Reserve University, 2500 MetroHealth Medical Center, Cleveland, Ohio 44109. Electronic address: sehgal@case.edu.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2020, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.amjmed.2020.03.047

PMID

32387317

Abstract

BACKGROUND: News media and policy makers frequently discuss deaths from firearms, drug overdoses, and motor vehicle accidents. However, this information is generally presented as absolute numbers or annual rates. Cumulative lifetime risk may be an additional useful metric for understanding the impact of these causes of death.

METHODS: Data on all-cause, firearm, drug overdose, and motor vehicle accident deaths were obtained from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for the United States for the year 2018. Age-specific death rates were used to estimate the cumulative risk of firearm, drug overdose, and motor vehicle accident death from birth to age 85 after accounting for other causes of death.

RESULTS: The lifetime risk of death from firearms, drug overdoses, and motor vehicle accidents was 0.93% (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.92-0.94%), 1.52% (95% CI, 1.51-1.53%), and 0.92% (95% CI, 0.91-0.93%), respectively. Black males had a 2.61% (95% CI, 2.55-2.66%) lifetime risk of firearm death, indicating that 1 out of 38 black males will die from firearms if current death rates persist. Residents of West Virginia had a 3.54% lifetime risk of drug overdose death, equivalent to 1 out of every 28 residents dying from overdoses.

CONCLUSIONS: The lifetime risk of death from firearms, drug overdoses, and motor vehicle accidents is substantial and varies greatly across demographic subgroups and states.

Copyright © 2020. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Language: en

Keywords

drug overdoses; firearm injuries; motor vehicle accidents