CDC: Suicide Leading Cause of Violent Deaths in 48 States and D.C. in 2021

58.2 percent of violent deaths were suicides, which occurred most often in males, adults 85 years and older, and non-Hispanic American Indian or Alaska Natives

By Elana Gotkine HealthDay Reporter

WEDNESDAY, July 10, 2024 (HealthDay News) — There were 70,688 violent deaths that occurred in 48 states and the District of Columbia in 2021, more than half of which were suicides, according to research published in the July 11 early-release issue of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

Brenda L. Nguyen, M.P.H., from the CDC in Atlanta, and colleagues collected data regarding violent deaths that occurred in 2021 from death certificates, coroner and medical examiner records, and law enforcement reports.

Information was obtained on 68,866 fatal incidents involving 70,688 deaths that occurred in 48 states and the District of Columbia in 2021. The researchers found that of the 70,688 deaths, most were suicides (58.2 percent), followed by homicides, deaths of undetermined intent that might be due to violence, legal intervention deaths, and unintentional firearm injury deaths (31.5, 8.2, 1.3, and

“Monitoring the prevalence of violence-related fatal injuries, defining priorities, and informing prevention activities are essential parts of public health surveillance,” the authors write.