This study determined the nationwide trends in unintentional injury deaths of adult Finns. For this purpose, we obtained from the Finnish Official Cause-of-Death Statistics the data for persons 15 years of age or older whose deaths occurred between 1971 and 2016 due to an unintentional injury. During the study period, a steep decline occurred in road traffic crashes. The death rate (per 100,000 persons) of women's road traffic crashes was 16 in 1971 but only 2 in 2016. Traffic caused much more deaths in men than women, but the declining trend in men's death rates was also clear, from 46 in 1971 to 7 in 2016. Concurrently, falls became the leading category of unintentional injury death in both genders. In women, the rate of fall-induced deaths increased from 16 in 1971 to 23 in 2016. In men, this rate rose from 14 in 1971 to 29 in 2016. Unintentional injury deaths in road traffic crashes declined drastically among adult Finnish population in 1971-2016. In contrast, the increase in their fall-induced deaths was of concern. Effective preventive actions should be started to control this development.
Keywords: Adult Finns; secular trends; unintentional injury deaths.