Study reveals high all-cause mortality rates among US youth aged 0 to 19 years

Study reveals high all-cause mortality rates among US youth aged 0 to 19 years | Image Credit: © Alona - © Alona - stock.adobe.com.

A recent study published in JAMA Pediatrics detailed the comparison of mortality rates in the United States among youths aged 0 to 19 years with 16 comparison countries. Results revealed a high all-cause mortality rate for youth in the United States, rates higher than the 16 other countries used in comparison.

In the cross-sectional study that calculated excess deaths from 1999 to 2019, the US population was obtained from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Mortality data for the United States and the 16 comparison countries were obtained from the Human Mortality Database (HMD).

The 16 comparison countries consisted of Australia, Austria, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. Age-specific mortality rates were collected via the following groups: younger than 1 year to 1 year of age, 1 years to 4 years, 5 to 9 years, 10 to 14 years, and 15 to 19 years.

"Excess deaths were calculated for each age group and year from 1999 to 2019 by multiplying the difference between US mortality rates and the median mortality rate of comparison countries by the US population count for the respective year," wrote the study authors.

Findings revealed that mortality rates among youths in the United States were higher than in the 16 comparison countries. Between 2013 and 2021, mortality rates for those aged 10 to 19 years increased, while the median mortality rate in comparison countries decreased. As a result, the mortality gap was widened. After 2019, the investigators noted a pronounced increase in mortality among US youth aged 15 to 19 years, but that increased rate was not observed in "most comparison countries."

There was an average of 19,712 deaths per year among youth aged 0 to 19 years in the United States, with a total of 413,948 deaths reported between 1999 and 2019. The breakdown among age groups was as follows:

• Infants - 56.6% of excess deaths
• 1 to 4 years - 7.5%
• 5 to 9 years - 3.9%
• 10 to 14 years - 5.8%
• 15 to 19 years - 26.2%

"The proportion of excess deaths at 10 to 19 years of age increased over the last decade, from 27.5% in 2009 to 35.8% in 2019," the investigative team reported, noting that male youths accounted for 61.4%.

Among the youth deaths reported from the last decade, more than half involved infants, "reflecting disproportionately high US infant mortality rates. These findings are consistent with a 1961-2010 estimate of excess US pediatric deaths," added the study authors.

Those aged 10 to 19 years accounted for an increasing proportion of excess deaths after 2010, of which most were male with higher rates of fatal injuries. Suicide incidence among 10-to-19-year-olds started to increase in 2007. Homicides increased in 2013 while fatal drug overdoses increased in 2014.

Reference:

Woolf SH, Chapman DA. Excess US Deaths Attributable to High All-Cause Mortality Rates Among Youths Aged 0 to 19 Years. JAMA Pediatr. Published online July 01, 2024. doi:10.1001/jamapediatrics.2024.1869