Definition:
Child and adolescent mortality is the total number of deaths to children between 1 and 19 years of age. The annual number of these deaths per 100,000 children/youth ages 1 to 4 years, 5 to 9 years, 10 to 14 years, and 15 to 19 years is the respective child/adolescent mortality rate. Since child/adolescent mortality is a relatively rare event in many counties, the numbers and rates are presented as three-year averages. Three-year averaging improves the reliability of the data in counties with small populations where slight variations in the number of child mortalities can result in large fluctuations in their annual rates.
Significance:
The leading causes of child mortality are unintentional injury deaths and cancer. Unintentional injury deaths include non-motor/ motor vehicle injuries, homicide and legal interventions, and suicide. Most injuries are predictable and potentially preventable. As the age group changes, so does the cause of death (Public Health Policy Advisory Board, 1999).
Healthy People 2010 objectives call for a national reduction in the child and adolescent mortality rate to no more than 25.0 per 1,000 live births for the age group 1 to 4, and 14.3 per 1,000 live births for the age group 5 to 9. The objectives for a national reduction in the adolescent mortality rate for the age groups 10 to 14 and 15 to 19 is no more than 6.8 and 43.2, respectively, per 1,000 live births (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2000).
Findings:
Child and adolescent mortality has been declining over the past decade in all age groups in New York State and especially in New York City.
During 2005-2007 an average 214 children aged 1 to 4 years died per year in New York State. The mortality rate, at 22.0 per 100,000 children aged 1 to 4, was 22 percent lower than the 1999-2001 rate (28.2 per 100,000). Children residing in New York City were responsible for much of the decline. The New York City mortality rate for children aged 1 to 4 was 20.8 per 100,000 in 2005-2007, a 27 percent decline from 1999-2001. In Rest of State the mortality rate for this age group declined 24 percent between 1999-2001 and 2005-2007 to 23.0 per 100,000.
In New York State, among children aged 5 to 9, the mortality rate dropped from 13.1 per 100,000 during 1999-2001 to 11.4 per 100,000 in 2005-2007. There was an average 136 deaths per year among children in this age group from 2005-2007. In New York City the mortality rate for children aged 5 to 9 declined 24 percent during these two time periods to 11.2 per 100,000. The mortality rate for children in this age group residing in Rest of State was down 4 percent to 11.5 per 100,000 in 2005-2007.
Among children aged 10 to 14 residing in New York State, there was an average of 162 deaths annually from 2005-2007. The mortality rate was 12.6 per 100,000 children aged 10 to 14. This is an improvement over the rate in 1999-2001 of 15.7 per 100,000. In New York City and Rest of State the mortality rates for this age group were 13.0 per 100,000 and 12.3 per 100,000, respectively, in 2005-2007.
Children aged 15 to 19 account for a large percentage of deaths among children under 20 years of age. In 2005-2007 an average 570 children in this age group died in New York State. This is down from an average of 634 in 1999-2001. The mortality rate for this age group declined 17 percent between 1991-2001 and 2005-2007 to 41.1 per 100,000 children aged 15 to 19. Again, rates improved in both New York City (47.9 per 100,000 in 1999-2001 vs. 38.3 per 100,000 in 2005-2007) and Rest of State (50.6 per 100,000 in 1999-2001 vs. 42.9 in 2005-2007).
References:
Public Health Policy Advisory Board. 1999. Health and the American Child. Washington, DC: Public Health Policy Advisory Board.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. 2000. Healthy People 2010 (Conference Edition in Two Volumes), Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.
KWIC
Indicator(s) and Narrative For: