Why Is This Important?

Violence is a major public health problem in the United States. Homicide is the second leading cause of death among persons aged 20-29 years in New Jersey and third in the U.S.

Definition

Deaths where homicide is indicated as the underlying cause of death. Homicide is defined as death resulting from the intentional use of force or power, threatened or actual, against another person, group, or community. ICD-10 Codes: X85-Y09, Y87.1 (homicide)

The homicides that occurred as a result of the events of September 11, 2001, have been excluded. Also, homicides due to legal intervention, which is the death of a person by a police officer in the line of duty, have been excluded.

Data Notes

• Data have been age-adjusted to the U.S. 2000 standard population.
• This is Healthy New Jersey 2020 (HNJ2020) Objective IVP-1a.

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

• Numerator:

  Number of resident deaths due to homicide

• Denominator:

  Estimated number of persons in the population

Related Health Objectives and Indicators

Related Relevant Population Characteristics Indicators:

• Deaths among Persons 15-24 Years Old

Related Health Status Outcomes Indicators:

• Deaths due to Firearm-related Injury

Health Topic Pages Related to: Homicide

• Injury and Violence
• Mortality