Citation

Carter PM, Seewald L, Zimmerman M. J. Am. Med. Assoc. JAMA 2024; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2024, American Medical Association)

DOI

10.1001/jama.2024.4208

PMID

38703402

Abstract

In this issue of JAMA, Wolf et al1 found that during the period from 2019 to 2021, the US experienced the greatest increase in all-cause pediatric fatalities (aged 1-19 years) in more than 50 years, with increased mortality disproportionately resulting from preventable injuries. Importantly, the authors identified widening racial and ethnic disparities across these preventable health outcomes, particularly for American Indian or Alaska Native and Black populations.1 The most stark differences were observed for homicide and suicide, with Black youth 10 times more likely to die by homicide and American Indian or Alaska Native youth almost 3 times more like to die by suicide compared with White youth. Among both populations, firearms remain the dominant mechanism of injury underlying homicide and suicide deaths, and firearm fatalities were identified by Wolf et al1 as one of the largest factors in observed disparities. Such findings are consistent with the trends that have been observed in the US throughout the past decade, where the firearm injury epidemic has continued to advance unabated and has now superseded motor vehicle crash deaths as the leading cause of death for US children and teens.2

Findings from Wolf et al1 spotlight the critical and urgent need for our nation to address firearm injury using established public health principles and science that parallel those we have applied for other leading causes of death.3 Historically, infectious diseases and motor vehicle crashes were the leading causes of morbidity and mortality for US children and teens.4 Yet, substantial decreases in mortality for these health outcomes have been observed over the past 70 years.5

In particular, motor vehicle crashes serve as an important case study for how to apply the science of public health to injury.5 Throughout the post-World War II era, fatalities from motor vehicle crashes continued to increase as more people in the US purchased cars, reaching a peak fatality rate in the early 1970s. Contradicting the conventional view of the time that such crashes were inevitable and exclusively the result of driver behavior, public health and injury prevention scientists began to examine this problem through a broader lens that considered the physical, social, societal, and behavioral contexts in which crashes were occurring. This generated novel data for scientists to better understand crash and injury epidemiology, as well as to develop, test, implement, and disseminate effective countermeasures. ...

Language: en