Childhood injury deaths: national analysis and geographic variations.

Twenty-three causes of injury mortality in children ages 0-14 in the United States were analyzed by age, race, sex, and state of residence for the years 1980-85. Motor vehicles caused 37 per cent of all injury-related deaths and were the leading cause of injury mortality in every group except children younger than one year, for whom homicide was the leading cause. Male death rates were at least four times female rates for suicide, unintentional firearm injury, and injuries related to farm machinery or motorcycles. The drowning rate among Whites was almost twice that of Blacks for ages 1-4, but in the 10-14 year age group the drowning rate for Blacks was over three times that of Whites. In general, the highest injury death rates were in the mountain states and the south. Between 1980 and 1985, the suicide rate in the 10-14 year age group more than doubled.