Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2022 Feb 4;7(1):e000766.
doi: 10.1136/tsaco-2021-000766. eCollection 2022.

Firearms: the leading cause of years of potential life lost

Joshua Klein  1 , Kartik Prabhakaran  1 , Rifat Latifi  1 , Peter Rhee  1
Affiliations
Review

Firearms: the leading cause of years of potential life lost

Joshua Klein et al. Trauma Surg Acute Care Open. .

Abstract

Objectives: Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) show that firearm deaths are increasing in the USA. The aims of this study were to determine the magnitude of potential years of life lost due to firearms and to examine the evolution of firearm deaths on the basis of sex, race, and geographical location within the USA.

Methods: Data was extracted (2009-2018) from the National Vital Statistics Reports from the CDC and the Web-based Injury Statistics Query and Reporting System database. Years of potential life lost was calculated by the CDC standard of subtracting the age at death from the standard year of 80, and then summing the individual years of potential life lost (YPLL) across each cause of death.

Results: The YPLL in 2017 and 2018 was higher for firearms than motor vehicle crashes (MVCs). In 2018, the YPLL for firearms was 1.42 million and 1.34 million for MVC. Males comprised the majority (85.4%) of the 38 929 firearm deaths. White males had the most YPLL due to suicide, with 4.95 million YPLL during the course of the 10-year period; black males had the most YPLL due to homicide with 3.2 million YPLL during the same time period. The largest number of suicides by firearms was in older white males. Firearm-related injury deaths were highest in the South, followed by the West, Midwest, and Northeast, respectively.

Conclusion: Firearms are now the leading cause of YPLL in trauma. Firearm deaths have overtaken MVC as the mechanism for the main cause of potential years of life lost since 2017. Suicide in white males accounts for more YPLL than homicides. Deaths related to firearms are potentially preventable causes of death and prevention efforts should be redirected.

Level of evidence: Level III-Descriptive Study.

Keywords: firearms; homicide; suicide.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Competing interests: None declared.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Cumulative YPLL. MVC, motor vehicle crash; YPLL, years of potential life lost.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Annual percent change—firearms versus MVC. MVC, motor vehicle crash.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Total firearm deaths by mechanism, 2009–2018.
Figure 4
Figure 4
White male firearm suicide versus homicide YPLL. YPLL, years of potential life lost.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Black male firearm suicide versus homicide YPLL. YPLL, years of potential life lost.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Firearm death, YPLL females. YPLL, years of potential life lost.
Figure 7
Figure 7
Firearm homicide/suicide by region, 2009–2018. YPLL, years of potential life lost.
Figure 8
Figure 8
YPLL by region, 2009–2018. YPLL, years of potential life lost.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Rhee P, Joseph B, Pandit V, Aziz H, Vercruysse G, Kulvatunyou N, Friese RS. Increasing trauma deaths in the United States. Ann Surg 2014;260:13–21. 10.1097/SLA.0000000000000600 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Arias E. United States life tables, 2017. Natl Vital Stat Rep 2019;68:1–66. - PubMed
    1. Grinshteyn E, Hemenway D. Violent death rates in the US compared to those of the other high-income countries, 2015. Prev Med 2019;123:20–6. 10.1016/j.ypmed.2019.02.026 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Switzerland-based Small Arms Survey (SAS) report . Global firearms Holdings database: civilians. Geneva: Small Arms Survey, 2018.
    1. Braga AA, Wintemute GJ, Pierce GL, Cook PJ, Ridgeway G. Interpreting the empirical evidence on illegal gun market dynamics. J Urban Health 2012;89:779–93. 10.1007/s11524-012-9681-y - DOI - PMC - PubMed