Leading Mechanisms of Unintentional Injury Death Among Youth Ages 10-19 Years: United States, 2024

Unintentional injuries are the leading cause of death for youth ages 10-19 years in the United States. This report describes differences in unintentional injury death rates among youth ages 10-19 in 2024 by age group, sex, race and Hispanic origin, and census region.

National Vital Statistics System underlying cause-of-death mortality data were used to describe unintentional injury death rates among youth ages 10-19 by sex, race and Hispanic origin, and census region. Unintentional injury deaths were identified using International Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision underlying cause-of-death codes V01-X59 and Y85-Y86, with leading mechanisms of motor vehicle traffic, poisoning, and drowning identified within this subset. Death rates per 100,000 population were calculated. Pairwise rate comparisons were performed using z tests or by comparing 95% confidence intervals calculated with the gamma method when rates were based on fewer than 100 deaths.

The unintentional injury death rate among youth ages 10-19 years in 2024 was 11.6 deaths per 100,000 population. The motor vehicle traffic death rate for youth ages 15-19 years (12.0) was 6 times the rate among youth ages 10-14 years (2.0). The unintentional injury death rate among male youth (16.3) was higher than among female youth (6.7), with similar differences observed in motor vehicle traffic, poisoning, and drowning death rates. American Indian and Alaska Native, non-Hispanic youth had the highest rates of unintentional injury, motor vehicle traffic, and poisoning death compared with other race and Hispanic-origin groups. Death rates among youth were highest in the South for all unintentional injuries (13.8).