Recent Study Finds 75 Percent of Teen Deaths Preventable

In a recent report titled Mortality Among Teenagers 12-19 released by the Centers for Disease Control Nation Center for Health Statistics, findings stated that the top three causes of death amongst teens are motor vehicle accidents, homicide, and suicide. All together, it is estimated that 75% of all teen deaths are considered to be preventable.

Accidents ,which are considered unintentional injuries, accounted for 48% of deaths, homicide for 13%, and suicide for 11% of deaths.  Motor vehicle accidents were responsible for almost three out of four deaths from unintentional injury, or as we previously stated, 75%.

Statistics have shown that male teenagers are more likely to die than female teenagers, and older teens are at higher risk of dying than younger teenagers.

As an example, in 2005/2006, there were 3,320 deaths of children 19 years old and younger. More than half of those deaths had died from causes considered to be of preventable such as motor vehicle fatalities, which made up the majority of teen deaths. Factos such as speeding, use of drugs and alcohol, driver inexperience, and recklessness were all cited as causes for the motor vehicle fatalities.

For more information the CDC website.