Objective: To analyze the changing pattern of injury mortality from 1990 to 2010 in China.
Methods: Data related to injury mortality between 1990 and 2010 from the estimates of the Global Burden of Disease 2010 were analyzed by sex, age, causes and risk factors, under the linear regression model.
Results: The rates on mortality of injuries showed a significant decline between 1990 and 2010, especially in women and in children aged 0-4 years. In 2010, there were around 796 thousand people died from all kinds of injuries, with an age-standardized mortality as 57/100 000 population. Rates on injury mortality were higher in men and in people aged 70 years or over, than in women or in younger age groups. In contrast to the substantial increase on mortality rate caused by road injury, all the other causes induced mortalities showed distinct decrease. In 2010, injuries accounted for 9.6 percent of the total number of deaths in China, which exceeded the number of deaths caused by communicable, maternal, neonatal diseases or nutritional disorders. The leading causes of injury mortality were road traffic injury, self-hurt, drowning and falls in 2010. In addition, major risk factors that causing injury mortality reduced during the study period, and the top three risk factors showed as occupational-related, alcohol use, and low bone mineral density (osteoporosis).
Conclusion: Despite the fact that rates on injury-related mortality were decreasing, injury remained a critical public health problem in China.