As of 2022, the third leading cause of death among teenagers aged 15 to 19 years in the United States was intentional self-harm or suicide, contributing around 17 percent of deaths among age group. The leading cause of death at that time was unintentional injuries, contributing to around 37.4 percent of deaths, while 21.8 percent of all deaths in this age group were due to assault or homicide. Cancer and heart disease, the overall leading causes of death in the United States, are also among the leading causes of death among U.S. teenagers. Adolescent suicide in the United States In 2021, around 22 percent of students in grades 9 to 12 reported that they had seriously considered attempting suicide in the past year. Female students were around twice as likely to report seriously considering suicide compared to male students. In 2022, Montana had the highest rate of suicides among U.S. teenagers with around 39 deaths per 100,000 teenagers, followed by South Dakota with a rate of 33 per 100,000. The states with the lowest death rates among adolescents are New York and New Jersey. Mental health treatment Suicidal thoughts are a clear symptom of mental health issues. Mental health issues are not rare among children and adolescents, and treatment for such issues has become increasingly accepted and accessible. In 2021, around 15 percent of boys and girls aged 5 to 17 years had received some form of mental health treatment in the past year. At that time, around 35 percent of youths aged 12 to 17 years in the United States who were receiving specialty mental health services were doing so because they had thought about killing themselves or had already tried to kill themselves.

In 2022, the leading causes of death among children and adolescents in the United States aged 10 to 14 were unintentional injuries, intentional self-harm (suicide), and cancer. That year, unintentional injuries accounted for around 25 percent of all deaths among this age group. Leading causes of death among older teens Like those aged 10 to 14 years, the leading cause of death among older teenagers in the U.S. aged 15 to 19 years is unintentional injuries. In 2022, unintentional injuries accounted for around 37 percent of all deaths among older teens. However, unlike those aged 10 to 14, the second leading cause of death among teens aged 15 to 19 is assault or homicide. Sadly, the third leading cause of death among this age group is suicide, making suicide among the leading three causes of death for both age groups. Teen suicide Suicide remains a major problem among teenagers in the United States, as reflected in the leading causes of death among this age group. It was estimated that in 2021, around 22 percent of high school students in the U.S. considered attempting suicide in the past year, with this rate twice as high for girls than for boys. The states with the highest death rates due to suicide among adolescents aged 15 to 19 years are Montana, South Dakota, and New Mexico. In 2022, the death rate from suicide among this age group in Montana was 39 per 100,000 population. In comparison, New York, the state with the lowest rate, had just five suicide deaths among those aged 15 to 19 years per 100,000 population.

Over the last few years, gun violence in the United States has become an increasingly deadly public health crisis. In 2021, firearms were the leading cause of death for children and adolescents aged one to 19 years old for a second year in a row in the United States, with ***** deaths from firearms, which accounted for more deaths than car crashes and other diseases in that year. This is an increase from the previous year, when there were ***** deaths from firearms. Gun violence in the U.S. Along with a rise in gun-related deaths, the United States has been experiencing an overall increase in gun violence, including mass shootings, school shootings, and gun homicides. Not surprisingly, the United States has also reported in increase in gun sales, with the unit sales for firearms reaching a new high in recent years. A uniquely American problem Despite the rise of gun violence and gun-related deaths, guns remain easily accessible in the United States and gun control has become a divisive issue throughout the nation. However, gun control proponents often call attention to the uniquely American phenomenon of school shootings. Since 2018, the annual number of incidents involving firearms at K-12 schools in the U.S. reached over *** in each year, while similar incidents in other countries with strict gun laws are exceptionally rare.

This statistic presents the global death rates for the leading causes of death among adolescents aged 10 to 19 years in 2015, per 100,000 population. At this time, road injuries were the leading cause of global deaths among adolescents aged 10 to 19 years with a death rate of 9.6 per 100,000 population.

Rank, number of deaths, percentage of deaths, and age-specific mortality rates for the leading causes of death, by age group and sex, 2000 to most recent year.

In 2022, the leading cause of death among teenagers in the United States aged 15 to 19 was accidents or unintentional injuries. At that time, there were 4,762 deaths among teens aged 15 to 19 years due to accidents. Homicide was the second leading cause of death among teens in this age group, with 2,781 deaths.

ObjectivePromoting adolescent health is essential to achieving the goals of the Healthy China 2030 (HC 2030) initiative. As socioeconomic conditions improve and medical practices and disease patterns evolve, adolescent mortality rates and causes of death vary considerably. This study provides up-to-date data on adolescent mortality and causes of death in China, highlighting key areas of focus for investment in adolescent health.MethodsData regarding mortality and causes of death in Chinese adolescents aged 10–19 years were extracted from the Global Burden of Disease study from 1990 to 2019. The data variables were examined according to year, sex, and age. The autoregressive integrated moving average model was used to predict non-communicable disease (NCD) mortality rates and rank changes in the leading causes of death until 2030.ResultsThe all-cause mortality rate (per 100,000 population) of Chinese adolescents aged 10–19 years steadily declined from 1990 (72.6/100,000) to 2019 (28.8). Male adolescents had a higher mortality (37.5/100,000 vs. 18.6 in 2019) and a slower decline rate (percent: −58.7 vs. −65.0) than female adolescents. Regarding age, compared with those aged 10–14 years, the mortality rate of adolescents aged 15–19 years had a higher mortality (35.9/100,000 vs. 21.2 in 2019) and a slower decrease rate (percent: −57.6 vs. −63.2). From 1990 to 2019, the rates of communicable, maternal, and nutritional diseases declined the most (percent: −80.0), while injury and NCDs mortality rates were relatively slow (percent: −50.0 and −60.0). In 2019, the five leading causes of death were road injuries (6.1/100,000), drowning (4.5), self-harm (1.9), leukemia (1.9), and congenital birth defects (1.3). Furthermore, NCDs' mortality rate decreased by −46.6% and −45.4% between 2015–2030 and 2016–2030, respectively.ConclusionA notable decline was observed in all-cause mortality rates among Chinese adolescents aged 10–19 years. In addition, the mortality rates of NCDs are projected to meet the target from the Global Strategy for Women's, Children's, and Adolescents' Health (2016–2030) and HC2030 reduction indicators by 2030. However, it should be noted that injury is the leading cause of death, with sexual and age disparities remaining consistent.

IntroductionAlthough child and adolescent health is the core of the global health agenda, the cause of death and its expected contribution to life expectancy (LE) among those aged 5–14 are under-researched across countries, especially in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).MethodsDeath rates per 10 years age group including a 5–14-year-old group were calculated by the formula, which used the population and the number of deaths segmented by the cause of death and gender from the 2019 Global Burden of Disease (GBD) study. LE and cause-eliminated LE in 10-year intervals were calculated by using life tables.ResultsIn 2019, the global mortality rate for children and adolescents aged 5–14 years was 0.522 (0.476–0.575) per 1,000, and its LF was 71.377 years. In different-income regions, considerable heterogeneity remains in the ranking of cause of death aged 5–14 years. The top three causes of death in low-income countries (LICs) are enteric infections [0.141 (0.098–0.201) per 1,000], other infectious diseases [0.103 (0.073–0.148) per 1,000], and neglected tropical diseases and malaria [0.102 (0.054–0.172) per 1,000]. Eliminating these mortality rates can increase the life expectancy of the 5–14 age group by 0.085, 0.062, and 0.061 years, respectively. The top three causes of death in upper-middle income countries (upper MICs) are unintentional injuries [0.066 (0.061–0.072) per 1,000], neoplasm [0.046 (0.041–0.050) per 1,000], and transport injuries [0.045 (0.041–0.049) per 1,000]. Eliminating these mortality rates can increase the life expectancy of the 5–14 age group by 0.045, 0.031, and 0.030 years, respectively.ConclusionThe mortality rate for children and adolescents aged 5–14 years among LMICs remains high. Considerable heterogeneity was observed in the main causes of death among regions. According to the main causes of death at 5–14 years old in different regions and countries at different economic levels, governments should put their priority in tailoring their own strategies to decrease preventable mortality.

Number of deaths and age-specific mortality rates for selected grouped causes, by age group and sex, 2000 to most recent year.

NOTE. RRfem, Relative risk for females compared with males; CI, confidence interval; χ2, chi-squared.aStatistics presented exclude deaths with undetermined cause (n = 174); of 238 NCD deaths, 13 ‘other’ NCDs are excluded from main cause of death analysis.bCD, communicable diseases (HIV, TB, malaria, other common infections).cHIV/TB is the combination of all deaths diagnosed with either TB or HIV as the cause of death.dSignificantly higher proportion of deaths in males, inverse RRmales presented [in brackets].

The leading causes of death among children aged 5 to 9 years in the United States in 2022 were unintentional injuries, cancer, and congenital malformations, deformations and chromosomal abnormalities. At that time, unintentional injuries accounted for around 28 percent of all deaths among this age group. Child abuse in the U.S. Sadly, assault or homicide, was the fourth leading cause of death among those aged 5 to 9 years in the United States in 2022, accounting for around 9.4 percent of all deaths. That year, there were around 113,259 cases of child abuse in the U.S. among children aged 6 to 9 years and 129,846 cases among children aged 2 to 5 years. In 2022, there were around 5.36 child deaths per day in the United States due to abuse and neglect. Suicide among children Assault or homicide was also among the top five leading causes of death among children aged 10 to 14 years, but perhaps even more troubling is that suicide is the second leading cause of death among this age group. As with younger children, unintentional injuries are the leading cause of death among those aged 10 to 14 years, however, suicide accounts for around 13 percent of all deaths among this age group. Comparatively, suicide is not among the ten-leading causes of death among children from the age 1 to 9 years.

Teenage and total suicide deaths at either the state or county level. Suicide is the second leading cause of death for young people in the US. Understanding how suicide affects your community can help to address the many factors that contribute to this preventable public health problem.

According to the data from 2025, some 16 percent of respondents said that rising health care costs were the most important health issue facing the United States. Cancer ranked second on the list with 15 percent. Issues with healthcare costsCurrently, the most urgent problem facing American healthcare is the high costs of care. The high expense of healthcare may deter people from getting the appropriate treatment when they need medical care or cause them to completely forego preventative care visits. Many Americans reported that they may skip prescription doses or refrain from taking medication as prescribed due to financial concerns. Such health-related behavior can result in major health problems, which may raise the long-term cost of care. Inflation, medical debt, and unforeseen medical expenses have all added to the burden that health costs are placing on household income. Gun violence issueThe gun violence epidemic has plagued the United States over the past few years, yet very little has been done to address the issue. In recent years, gun violence has become the leading cause of death among American children and teens. Even though more than half of Americans are in favor of tougher gun control regulations, there is little political will to strongly reform the current gun law. Gun violence has a deep traumatic impact on survivors and society, it is developing into a major public health crisis in the United States.

Number of deaths and mortality rates, by age group, sex, and place of residence, 1991 to most recent year.

This statistic presents the death rates for the five leading causes of deaths among adolescents aged 10 to 19 years in each WHO region in 2015 (per 100,000 population). In low- and middle-income countries in Africa the leading cause of death among those aged 10 to 19 years was lower respiratory infections with a death rate of 21.8 per 100,000 population. In high income WHO countries road injury was the leading cause of death among adolescents with a rate of 4.6. Road injury was the only cause to be in the five leading causes of death among adolescents in every WHO region.

According to the data from January 2024, 22 percent of respondents said that rising health care costs were the most important health issue facing the United States. Mental health ranked second on the list with 15 percent. Issues with healthcare costsCurrently, the most urgent problem facing American healthcare is the high costs of care. The high expense of healthcare may deter people from getting the appropriate treatment when they need medical care or cause them to completely forego preventative care visits. Many Americans reported that they may skip prescription doses or refrain from taking medication as prescribed due to financial concerns. Such health-related behavior can result in major health problems, which may raise the long-term cost of care. Inflation, medical debt, and unforeseen medical expenses have all added to the burden that health costs are placing on household income. Gun violence issueThe gun violence epidemic has plagued the United States over the past few years, yet very little has been done to address the issue. In recent years, gun violence has become the leading cause of death among American children and teens. Even though more than half of Americans are in favor of tougher gun control regulations, there is little political will to strongly reform the current gun law. Gun violence has a deep traumatic impact on survivors and society, it is developing into a major public health crisis in the United States.

BackgroundDeath by suicide is one of the leading causes of death among adolescents. Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified loci that associate with suicidal ideation and related behaviours. One such group of loci are the six contactin genes (CNTN1-6) that are critical to neurodevelopment through regulating neurite structure. Because single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) detected by GWAS often map to non-coding intergenic regions, we investigated whether repetitive variants in CNTNs associated with suicidality in a young cohort aged 8 to 21. Understanding the genetic liability of suicidal thought and behavior in this age group will promote early intervention and treatment.MethodsGenotypic and phenotypic data were obtained from the Philadelphia Neurodevelopment Cohort (PNC). Across six CNTNs, 232 short tandem repeats (STRs) were analyzed in up to 4,595 individuals of European ancestry who expressed current, previous, or no suicidal ideation. STRs were imputed into SNP arrays using a phased SNP-STR haplotype reference panel from the 1000 Genomes Project. We tested several additive and interactive models of locus-level burden (i.e., sum of STR alleles) with respect to suicidal ideation. Additive models included sex, birth year, developmental stage (“DevStage”), and the first 10 principal components of ancestry as covariates; interactive models assessed the effect of STR-by-DevStage considering all other covariates.ResultsCNTN1-[T]N interacted with DevStage to increase risk for current suicidal ideation (CNTN1-[T]N-by-DevStage; p = 0.00035). Compared to the youngest age group, the middle (OR = 1.80, p = 0.0514) and oldest (OR = 3.82, p = 0.0002) participant groups had significantly higher odds of suicidal ideation as their STR length expanded; this result was independent of polygenic scores for suicidal ideation.DiscussionThese findings highlight diversity in the genetic effects (i.e., SNP and STR) acting on suicidal thoughts and behavior and advance our understanding of suicidal ideation across childhood and adolescence.

This statistic presents the global death rates for the leading causes of death among adolescents aged 10 to 14 years in 2015, per 100,000 population. Lower respiratory infections emerged as the leading cause of deaths among adolescents aged 10 to 14 years with a death rate of 6.7 per 100,000 population.

In the United States, Black people have higher rates of gun homicide than White people across all age groups. As of 2022, gun homicide rates were highest among Black people aged between 15 and 24 years, at ***** gun homicides per 100,000 of the population. In comparison, there were only **** gun homicides per 100,000 of the White population within this age range. However, the risk for gun homicide was greatest among all adolescents and adults between the ages of 15 to 44 in that year. The impact of guns on young Americans In the last few years, firearms have become the leading cause of death for American children and teenagers aged one to 19 years old, accounting for more deaths than car crashes and diseases. School shootings also remain on the rise recently, with the U.S. recording ** times as many school shootings than other high-income nations from 2009 to 2018. Black students in particular experience a disproportionately high number of school shootings relative to their population, and K-12 teachers at schools made up mostly of students of color are more likely to report feeling afraid that they or their students would be a victim of attack or harm. The right to bear arms Despite increasingly high rates of gun-related violence, gun ownership remains a significant part of American culture, largely due to the fact that the right to bear arms is written into the U.S. Constitution. Although firearms are the most common murder weapon used in the U.S., accounting for approximately ****** homicides in 2022, almost **** of American households have at least one firearm in their possession. Consequently, it is evident that firearms remain easily accessible nationwide, even though gun laws may vary from state to state. However, the topic of gun control still causes political controversy, as the majority of Republicans agree that it is more important to protect the right of Americans to own guns, while Democrats are more inclined to believe that it is more important to limit gun ownership.

EMSIndicators:The number of individual patients administered naloxone by EMSThe number of naloxone administrations by EMSThe rate of EMS calls involving naloxone administrations per 10,000 residentsData Source:The Vermont Statewide Incident Reporting Network (SIREN) is a comprehensive electronic prehospital patient care data collection, analysis, and reporting system. EMS reporting serves several important functions, including legal documentation, quality improvement initiatives, billing, and evaluation of individual and agency performance measures.Law Enforcement Indicators:The Number of law enforcement responses to accidental opioid-related non-fatal overdosesData Source:The Drug Monitoring Initiative (DMI) was established by the Vermont Intelligence Center (VIC) in an effort to combat the opioid epidemic in Vermont. It serves as a repository of drug data for Vermont and manages overdose and seizure databases. Notes:Overdose data provided in this dashboard are derived from multiple sources and should be considered preliminary and therefore subject to change. Overdoses included are those that Vermont law enforcement responded to. Law enforcement personnel do not respond to every overdose, and therefore, the numbers in this report are not representative of all overdoses in the state. The overdoses included are limited to those that are suspected to have been caused, at least in part, by opioids. Inclusion is based on law enforcement's perception and representation in Records Management Systems (RMS). All Vermont law enforcement agencies are represented, with the exception of Norwich Police Department, Hartford Police Department, and Windsor Police Department, due to RMS access. Questions regarding this dataset can be directed to the Vermont Intelligence Center at dps.vicdrugs@vermont.gov.Overdoses Indicators:The number of accidental and undetermined opioid-related deathsThe number of accidental and undetermined opioid-related deaths with cocaine involvementThe percent of accidental and undetermined opioid-related deaths with cocaine involvementThe rate of accidental and undetermined opioid-related deathsThe rate of heroin nonfatal overdose per 10,000 ED visitsThe rate of opioid nonfatal overdose per 10,000 ED visitsThe rate of stimulant nonfatal overdose per 10,000 ED visitsData Source:Vermont requires towns to report all births, marriages, and deaths. These records, particularly birth and death records are used to study and monitor the health of a population. Deaths are reported via the Electronic Death Registration System. Vermont publishes annual Vital Statistics reports.The Electronic Surveillance System for the Early Notification of Community-based Epidemics (ESSENCE) captures and analyzes recent Emergency Department visit data for trends and signals of abnormal activity that may indicate the occurrence of significant public health events.Population Health Indicators:The percent of adolescents in grades 6-8 who used marijuana in the past 30 daysThe percent of adolescents in grades 9-12 who used marijuana in the past 30 daysThe percent of adolescents in grades 9-12 who drank any alcohol in the past 30 daysThe percent of adolescents in grades 9-12 who binge drank in the past 30 daysThe percent of adolescents in grades 9-12 who misused any prescription medications in the past 30 daysThe percent of adults who consumed alcohol in the past 30 daysThe percent of adults who binge drank in the past 30 daysThe percent of adults who used marijuana in the past 30 daysData Sources:The Vermont Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) is part of a national school-based surveillance system conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The YRBS monitors health risk behaviors that contribute to the leading causes of death and disability among youth and young adults.The Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) is a telephone survey conducted annually among adults 18 and older. The Vermont BRFSS is completed by the Vermont Department of Health in collaboration with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).Notes:Prevalence estimates and trends for the 2021 Vermont YRBS were likely impacted by significant factors unique to 2021, including the COVID-19 pandemic and the delay of the survey administration period resulting in a younger population completing the survey. Students who participated in the 2021 YRBS may have had a different educational and social experience compared to previous participants. Disruptions, including remote learning, lack of social interactions, and extracurricular activities, are likely reflected in the survey results. As a result, no trend data is included in the 2021 report and caution should be used when interpreting and comparing the 2021 results to other years.The Vermont Department of Health (VDH) seeks to promote destigmatizing and equitable language. While the VDH uses the term "cannabis" to reflect updated terminology, the data sources referenced in this data brief use the term "marijuana" to refer to cannabis. Prescription Drugs Indicators:The average daily MMEThe average day's supplyThe average day's supply for opioid analgesic prescriptionsThe number of prescriptionsThe percent of the population receiving at least one prescriptionThe percent of prescriptionsThe proportion of opioid analgesic prescriptionsThe rate of prescriptions per 100 residentsData Source:The Vermont Prescription Monitoring System (VPMS) is an electronic data system that collects information on Schedule II-IV controlled substance prescriptions dispensed by pharmacies. VPMS proactively safeguards public health and safety while supporting the appropriate use of controlled substances. The program helps healthcare providers improve patient care. VPMS data is also a health statistics tool that is used to monitor statewide trends in the dispensing of prescriptions.Treatment Indicators:The number of times a new substance use disorder is diagnosed (Medicaid recipients index events)The number of times substance use disorder treatment is started within 14 days of diagnosis (Medicaid recipients initiation events)The number of times two or more treatment services are provided within 34 days of starting treatment (Medicaid recipients engagement events)The percent of times substance use disorder treatment is started within 14 days of diagnosis (Medicaid recipients initiation rate)The percent of times two or more treatment services are provided within 34 days of starting treatment (Medicaid recipients engagement rate)The MOUD treatment rate per 10,000 peopleThe number of people who received MOUD treatmentData Source:Vermont Medicaid ClaimsThe Vermont Prescription Monitoring System (VPMS)Substance Abuse Treatment Information System (SATIS)