Injury-Related Deaths Bring Down Life Expectancy in America

The life expectancy rate in the United States is much less compared to that of other developed countries, revealed a new study.

The study published in JAMA reported that deaths due to gun shots, car crashes and drug overdose were the main reasons for lower life expectancy rate in the country.

‘The difference in life expectancy between the U.S. and other developed countries is due to injuries sustained from guns, drug poisonings and motor vehicle crashes.’

Researchers estimated a 2012 data analysis from the U.S. government and the World Health Organization. They compared the life expectancy of United States with other countries like Austria, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom.

They found that the life expectancy for men in 2012 was 78.6 years versus 76.4 in the United States. The life expectancy for women was 83.4 years versus 81.2 years in the United States. In both the cases, deaths were due to injuries and the life expectancy rate was higher in other developed countries.

Researchers also found that the firearm-related injuries accounted for 21 percent of the gap, drug overdose 14 percent, and motor vehicle crash 13 percent.

"If we brought mortality from car crashes, firearm injuries and drug poisonings down to levels that we see in these other countries, we'd gain about a year of life expectancy," said lead author Andrew Fenelon, a sociologist with the CDC's National Center for Health Statistics.

Source: Medindia