Injury Deaths Among U.S. Females: CDC Resources and Programs

Injury death rates are lower for women than for men at all ages, but we have a long way to go in understanding the circumstances of injury fatalities among females. This article presents resources that can be used to examine the most recent data on injury fatalities among females and highlights activities of CDC's Injury Center. The National Center for Injury Prevention and Control's (NCIPC's) Web-based Injury Statistics Query and Reporting System, an online surveillance database, can be used to examine injury deaths. We present examples that show the 2015 number of female fatal injuries by age group and injury cause and method, as well as a 2008-2014 county-level map of female fatal injury rates. In 2015, there were 68,572 injury fatalities of females of age ≥1 year, equivalent to 1 death every 7 minutes. Injuries were the leading cause of death for females of ages 1-41 years and the sixth-ranked cause of female death overall. Falls were the leading cause of injury death overall (and for women ≥70 years), unintentional poisonings were second, and motor vehicle traffic injuries were third. NCIPC funds national organizations, state health agencies, and other groups to develop, implement, and promote effective injury and violence prevention and control practices. Five key programs are discussed. Presenting data on injury fatalities is an essential element in identifying meaningful prevention efforts. Further investigation of the causes and impact of female injury fatalities can refine the public health approach to reduce this injury burden.