Injury mortality in American Indian, Hispanic, and non-Hispanic white children in new Mexico, 1958-1982

Lenora M. Olson, Thomas M. Becker, Charles L. Wiggins, Charles R. Key and Jonathan M. Samet

Social Science & Medicine, 1990, vol. 30, issue 4, 479-486

Abstract: Childhood fatalities from injuries are a serious public health problem in New Mexico, a state which ranks second in the nation in injury-related mortality rates. To determine the extent of injury mortality in children in this state, and to examine time trends and differences in mortality rates in New Mexico's American Indian, Hispanic, and non-Hispanic white children aged 0-14 years, we analyzed vital records collected from 1958 to 1982. American Indian children experienced the highest mortality rates from all external causes combined. Among all three major ethnic groups, children aged 0-4 years were at the highest risk for injury fatalities. Unintentional injuries accounted for 85% of all injury-related deaths. Motor vehicle crashes and drowning were the first and second leading causes of death in all three groups, while other important causes of death included fire, choking on food or other objects, poisoning, and homicide. Although the fatality rates on most types of injuries decreased over the 25-year period, childhood fatality rates for motor vehicle crashes and homicide increased in each ethnic group. Despite the overall decrease in injury mortality rates in New Mexican children, the rates are excessively high compared to other states, especially in American Indian children.

Keywords: cross-cultural; comparison; wounds; and; injuries; Indians; North; American; Hispanic; Americans (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 1990
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0277-9536(90)90350-2
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

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:eee:socmed:v:30:y:1990:i:4:p:479-486

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/supportfaq.cws_home/regional
http://www.elsevier. ... _01_ooc_1&version=01

Access Statistics for this article

Social Science & Medicine is currently edited by Ichiro (I.) Kawachi and S.V. (S.V.) Subramanian

More articles in Social Science & Medicine from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().