Accident injuries are the third leading cause of death in Arizona. Injuries resulting in death are due primarily to motor vehicle crashes, firearms, poisonings, suffocation, falls, fires and drowning. The risk of injury is so great that most people sustain a significant injury sometime during their life.2
Arizona ranks 44th in the country with 2.1 motor vehicle deaths per 100,000 miles driven.3 Motor vehicle crashes are the most common cause of serious injury and fatalities are highest in the age group 15 to 24 years.2 Males are 1.9 times more likely to die from an accidental injury than are females. American Indians have the highest death rate for accidental injuries in Arizona at 103.9 per 100,000, and Hispanics have the second highest death rate at 48.9 per 100,000. African Americans have the third highest death rate at 45.9 per 100,000. Asians have the lowest accidental death rate at 21.1 per 100,000, while white Arizonans have the second lowest rate at 43.3 per 100,000.1 In 1997, Arizona ranked second in deaths due to drowning among children 0–4 years old. Unfortunately this rate has been increasing in recent years.
Non-accidental trauma from homicide, suicide, and injury related to abusive behaviors are also areas of great public health concern in Arizona. In 1998 the Arizona homicide rate was 10.4 per 100,000, compared to the national rate of 6.5.2 Suicide rates in Arizona are particularly high among teens and older adults. Injury from abusive behaviors and domestic violence, often go unreported. Implementation of injury prevention programs could prevent thousands of deaths and non-fatal injuries each year. Arizona’s injury and violence prevention goals and the strategies for achieving them are outlined in Health Arizona 2010 at http://www.healthyaz2010.org/.
