Why Is This Important?

The deaths of younger adults present a public health concern and an opportunity for prevention. The leading cause of death among persons aged 25-44 years is unintentional injury. These deaths are, for the most part, preventable.

Definition

Deaths among those aged 25 through 44 years

Data Sources

• Death Certificate Database, Office of Vital Statistics and Registry, New Jersey Department of Health
  (https://www.nj.gov/health/vital/)
• Population Estimates, State Data Center, New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development
  (https://www.nj.gov/labor/labormarketinformation/demographics/population-household-estimates/)
• Underlying Cause of Death, CDC WONDER On-line Database, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
  (https://wonder.cdc.gov/Deaths-by-Underlying-Cause.html)

How the Measure is Calculated

How Are We Doing?

The death rate among residents aged 25-44 years had been slowly declining but the increase in unintentional poisoning deaths over the last several years has resulted in an increase in the death rate among persons of this age group. In 2020, 80% of unintentional injury deaths in this age group were due to drug poisoning. The death rate increased again in 2020 due to COVID-19 which was the underlying cause of 416 deaths in this age group. It is conceivable that the COVID-19 pandemic also caused an increase in other causes of death due to delays in medical care and fears of going to the hospital and being exposed to COVID. The death rate among Blacks aged 25-44 years remains significantly higher than that of other racial/ethnic groups although the gap had been narrowing rapidly due in large part to a decrease in deaths due to HIV disease. In 2000, HIV was the third leading cause of death in this age group. In 2020, it was fourteenth. A higher rate of deaths due to COVID-19 in this age group among Blacks (26.6 per 100,000 vs. 6.2 among Whites) caused the disparity to increase again 2020. The highest COVID-19 death rate in this age group was among Hispanics (41.2) who surpassed Whites as the racial/ethnic group with the second highest death rate in the 25-44 age group. The leading causes of death among adults aged 25-44 years in 2020 were unintentional injury, COVID-19, heart disease, cancer, suicide, and homicide.

How Do We Compare With the U.S.?

The death rate among New Jersey residents aged 25-44 years was significantly lower than the national rate in 2020.

Available Services

NJ Division of Mental Health and Addiction Services: [https://nj.gov/humanservices/dmhas/home/] NJ COVID-19 Information Hub: [https://covid19.nj.gov/] The [http://nj.gov/health/ces/public/resources/njceed.shtml New Jersey Cancer Education and Early Detection Program] provides breast, cervical, colorectal and prostate cancer education, outreach, screenings, case management, and follow-up services to low-income, uninsured and underinsured residents of the state. [http://www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org/ National Suicide Prevention Lifeline] connects callers to skilled, trained counselors at local crisis centers, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. 1-800-273-TALK (8255) NJ Department of Children and Families Hotlines and Helplines: [http://nj.gov/dcf/families/hotlines/ http://nj.gov/dcf/families/hotlines/]

More Resources

COVID-19: [https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html] Heart Disease: [https://www.cdc.gov/heart-disease/about/index.html] Cancer: [https://www.cdc.gov/cancer/] CDC National Center for Injury Prevention and Control: [http://www.cdc.gov/injury/index.html] CDC National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Division of Violence Prevention: [https://www.cdc.gov/violence-prevention/index.html]

Health Program Information

NJDOH Programs: *[http://www.state.nj.us/health/ems/ Office of Emergency Medical Services] *[http://www.state.nj.us/health/cd Communicable Disease Service] *[http://nj.gov/health/ces/ Cancer Resources] *[http://www.nj.gov/health/fhs/chronic/heart-disease-stroke/ Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention Program] *[http://www.state.nj.us/health/fhs/maternalchild/suicide.shtml Suicide Prevention]