Deaths from unintentional injury, homicide, and suicide during or within 1 year of pregnancy in Philadelphia

P.K. Mehta, M.A. Bachhuber, R. Hoffman and S.K. Srinivas

American Journal of Public Health, 2016, vol. 106, issue 12, 2208-2210

Abstract: Objectives. To understand the effect of unintentional injuries (e.g., drug overdose), suicide, and homicide on pregnancy-associated death (death during or within 1 year of pregnancy). Methods. We analyzed all cases of pregnancy-associated death among Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, residents from 2010 to 2014, examining cause of death, contributing factors, and history of health care use. Results. Approximately half (49%; 42 of 85) of pregnancy-associated deaths were from unintentional injuries (n = 31), homicide (n = 8), or suicide (n = 3); drug overdose was the leading cause (n = 18). Substance use was noted during or around events leading to death in 46% (31 of 67) of nonoverdose deaths. A history of serious mental illness was noted in 39% (32 of 82) of nonsuicide deaths. History of intimate partner violence (IPV) was documented in 19% (15 of 77) of nonhomicide deaths. Regardless of cause of death, approximately half of all decedents had an unscheduled hospital visit documented within a month of death. Conclusions. Unintentionalinjury,homicide,and suicide contribute to manydeathsamong pregnant and recently pregnant women. Interventions focused on substance use, mental health, and IPV may reduce pregnancy-associated and pregnancy-related deaths.

Keywords: accident; adult; cause of death; epidemiology; factual database; female; homicide; human; mortality; Pennsylvania; pregnancy; suicide; trends; young adult, Accidents; Adult; Cause of Death; Databases, Factual; Female; Homicide; Humans; Philadelphia; Pregnancy; Suicide; Young Adult (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://hdl.handle.net/10.2105/AJPH.2016.303473

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:aph:ajpbhl:10.2105/ajph.2016.303473_0

DOI: 10.2105/AJPH.2016.303473

Access Statistics for this article

American Journal of Public Health is currently edited by Alfredo Morabia

More articles in American Journal of Public Health from American Public Health Association
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Christopher F Baum ().