QuickStats: Death Rates* for the Three Leading Causes of Injury Death† --- United States, 1979--2007

* Per 100,000 population. Age-adjusted to the 2000 U.S. standard population.

† Injuries are from all manners, including unintentional, suicide, homicide, undetermined intent, legal intervention, and operations of war. Poisoning deaths include those resulting from drug overdose, those resulting from other misuse of drugs, and those associated with solid or liquid biologic substances, gases or vapors, or other substances such as pesticides or unspecified chemicals.

§ In 1999, International Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision (ICD-10) replaced the previous revision of the ICD (ICD-9). This resulted in approximately 5% fewer deaths being classified as motor vehicle traffic--related and 2% more deaths being classified as poisoning-related. Therefore, death rates for 1998 and earlier are not directly comparable with those computed after 1998. Little change was observed in the classification of firearm-related deaths from ICD-9 to ICD-10.

In 2007, the three leading causes of injury deaths in the United States were motor vehicle traffic, poisoning, and firearms. The age-adjusted death rate for poisoning more than doubled from 1979 to 2007, in contrast to the age-adjusted death rates for motor vehicle traffic and firearms, which decreased during this period. From 2006 to 2007, the age-adjusted poisoning death rate increased 6%, whereas the motor vehicle traffic death rate decreased 4%, and the firearm death rate did not change.

Sources: National Vital Statistics System, mortality data, available at http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/deaths.htm.

CDC WONDER, compressed mortality file, underlying cause-of-death, available at http://wonder.cdc.gov/mortsql.html.

Alternative Text: The figure above shows death rates for the three leading causes of injury death in the United States during 1979-2007. In 2007, the three leading causes of injury deaths in the United States were motor vehicle traffic, poisoning, and firearms. The age-adjusted death rate for poisoning more than doubled from 1979 to 2007, in contrast to the age-adjusted death rates for motor vehicle traffic and firearms, which decreased during this period. From 2006 to 2007, the age-adjusted poisoning death rate increased 6%, whereas the motor vehicle traffic death rate decreased 4%, and the firearms death rate did not change.