NEW YORK (Reuters) -- The leading cause of death among young people in the US is car accidents, according to a study presented over the weekend.
Motor vehicle accidents account for 30% of adolescent deaths, followed by homicide (20%), suicide (12%), and unintentional injury (other than car accidents) including falls and drowning (10%). Death from AIDS accounts for 2% of the mortality rate among 10 to 24 year olds.
Experts from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta, Georgia, note that all of these are potentially preventable causes of death. Dr. Lloyd Kolbe, director of the Division of Adolescent and School Health of the CDC presented these statistics Sunday during his keynote speech at the Society for Adolescent Medicine meeting in Atlanta.
In 1995, the national mortality rate for 15 to 24 year olds was 95 deaths per 100,000 young people. This rate falls behind the goal set for 1990 of 93 deaths per 100,000.
"More attention is needed from the public health and medical communities toward this age group," Dr. Kolbe told Reuters.
Compared with other nations, the United States ranks 21st in mortality rates for girls aged 15 to 19, and 31st in mortality rates for boys in the same age group.
