The National Center for Health Statistics linking birth and death records for U.S. infants provides an opportunity to assess the demographic, socioeconomic and prenatal risk factors associated with deaths due to injuries in infants less than one year of age. Among children less than one year of age, 10,370 injury deaths were identified over a nine year period (1983-1991). Homicide, accidental suffocation, motor vehicle accidents, choking, fire, and drowning were, in decending order, the leading causes of injury-related death. Importantly, specific injuries corresponded with specific risk factors. These findings were published in Pediatrics. Deaths due to homicide, the leading cause of injury death in infancy, were examined separately to identify infants to be targeted for special interventions to prevent these deaths. Findings were published in the New England Journal of Medicine. A recent methodological analysis examined deaths classified as """"""""undertermined intent."""""""" By evaluating risk factor profiles of such injuries, it may be possible to classify these injuries as likely intentional or likely unintentional. This study has enormous public health implications, as such injuries could increase death rates from homicide in the less than one year age group by 10-15% in the U.S. A manuscript reporting these findings was published in Injury Prevention.
| Overpeck, Mary D; Brenner, Ruth A; Cosgrove, Candace et al. (2002) National underascertainment of sudden unexpected infant deaths associated with deaths of unknown cause. Pediatrics 109:274-83 |
| Overpeck, M D; Brenner, R A; Trumble, A C et al. (1999) Infant injury deaths with unknown intent: what else do we know? Inj Prev 5:272-5 |
| Bull, M; Agran, P; Laraque, D et al. (1999) American Academy of Pediatrics. Committee on Injury and Poison Prevention. Safe transportation of newborns at hospital discharge. Pediatrics 104:986-7 |
| Brenner, R A; Overpeck, M D; Trumble, A C et al. (1999) Deaths attributable to injuries in infants, United States, 1983-1991. Pediatrics 103:968-74 |
