3. Cost of Injuries to Society
• Fatal injuries
• Fifth leading cause of death in U.S.
• Disabling injuries
• Great human burden attributed to injuries
• Significant economic costs
• Greatly contribute to premature death
6. Unintentional Injuries
• The cause of nearly two-thirds of all injury-
related deaths in the U.S.
• A major community health problem
• Motor vehicle crashes
• Poisoning
• Falls
• Other unintentional injuries
7. Motor Vehicle Crashes
• Leading type of unintentional injury death
• Leading cause of nonfatal unintentional injury
• Majority of those killed are
• Drivers
• Passengers
• Motorcycle riders
• Pedestrians
• Pedalcyclists
8. Poisonings
• Second leading cause of unintentional injury
death
• Unintentional ingestion of fatal doses of
medicines and drugs
• Consumption of toxic foods
• Exposure to toxic substances in the workplace
or elsewhere
• Most occur in the home
9. Falls
• Third leading cause of unintentional injury
death
• Leading cause of injury-related ED visits
• Most occur in the home
• Disproportionately affect elders
10. Epidemiology of Unintentional Injuries
• Account for large number of early deaths in
U.S.
• Incapacitation significant problem
• High economic impact
11. Person
• Age
• Leading cause of death in children and
teenagers
• Falls leading cause of unintentional injury
death for elders
• Gender
• Males more likely to be involved in fatal
unintentional injuries
• Minority status
13. Place
• Home
• More occur in the home than anyplace else
• Highway
• 2nd leading place for injuries and injury death
• Recreation/sports area
• Workplace
17. Alcohol and Other Drugs as Risk Factors
• Alcohol may be most important factor
contributing to injuries
• Involved in high amount of motor vehicle
crashes
• Related to speeding, seat belt use, and other
behaviors
18. Prevention through Epidemiology
• Early contributors for injury prevention and
control
• John Gordon
• William Haddon, Jr.
• Model for unintentional injuries - triangle
• Environment, host, and energy producing agent
20. Prevention and Control Tactics
• Prevent accumulation of energy producing
agent
• Reducing speed limits, lowering settings on hot
water heaters
• Prevent inappropriate release of excess energy
• Flame-retardant fabric, nonslip surfaces
• Placing barrier between host and agent
• Sunscreen, non-heat handles on cookware
21. Community Approaches to Prevention
• Education – process of changing people’s
health-directed behavior
• Regulation – enacting and enforcing laws to
control conduct
• Automatic protection – modifying products or
environments to reduce risk
• Litigation – seeking justice for injury through
courts
22. Intentional Injuries
• Outcome of self-directed or interpersonal
violence
• Assaults, rapes, suicides, homicides
• Can be perpetrated against family members,
community members, or complete strangers
23. Epidemiology of Intentional Injuries
• Interpersonal violence disproportionately
affects those frustrated, hopeless, jobless,
living in poverty, with low-self esteem
• More acts committed by males
• Firearms increasingly involved
• Alcohol and drug use contributes
• Perpetrators more likely to have been abused
or neglected as children or exposed to violence
24. Homicide, Assault, Rape, and Property
Crimes
• Homicide victimization rate for blacks
significantly higher than whites
• Most homicides committed with firearms
• Lower income associated with higher rate of
being a victim of violence
• Except for rape and sexual assault, all violent
crime victimization rate higher for males
• Less than half of all violent crimes committed
are reported to police
25. Suicide and Attempted Suicide
• Suicide rate for men four times that for women
• Suicide rate for young people and elderly
declined in recent years after significant
increase from 1950-1995
• Older men eight times more likely to commit
suicide than senior women
26. Firearm Injuries and Injury Deaths
• Intentional and unintentional acts, firearms
third leading cause of injury death
• Highest risk for homicide and suicide
involving firearms are teenage boys and young
men
• Guns on college campuses
• Absence of detailed federally supported
reporting system
28. Violence in Our Society and Resources for
Prevention
• Individuals and Violence
• Family Violence and Abuse
• Child maltreatment
• Child abuse
• Child neglect
• Prevention of child maltreatment
• Elder maltreatment
• Intimate partner violence
• Prevention of intimate partner violence
29. Violence in Schools
• Victimization rates have remained steady in
recent years
• Fighting and weapon carrying
• Zero tolerance policies
• Bullying and being bullied
• Safe Schools/Healthy Students Initiative
• Youth violence after school
30. Violence in Our Communities
• Youth gang violence
• Costs to the community
• Community response
• State response
• Federal response
31. Discussion Questions
• What levels of prevention can be most
effective in reducing violence in communities?
• How can unintentional injury rates continue to
decline in the coming decades?
