title: Trends in external causes of child and adolescent mortality in Poland, 1999-2012.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To examine the pattern and trend of deaths due to external causes among Polish children and adolescents in 1999-2012, and to compare trends in Poland's neighboring countries.
  
  
  METHODS
  Death records were obtained from the Central Statistical Office of Poland. External causes mortality rates (MR) with 95 % confidence interval were calculated. The annual percentage change of MR was examined using linear regression. To compare MR with Belarus, Ukraine, Czech Republic and Germany, data from the European Mortality Database were used.
  
  
  RESULTS
  MR were the highest in the age 15-19 years (33.7/100,000) and among boys (22.7/100,000). Unintentional injuries including transport accidents, drowning, and suicides (especially in children over 10 years old), were the main cause of death in the analyzed groups. Between 1999 and 2012 annual MR for unintentional injuries declined substantially. MR due to injuries and poisoning in Poland were higher compared with Czech Republic and Germany and lower in comparison with Belarus and Ukraine.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Deaths due to unintentional injuries are still the leading cause of death among Polish children and adolescents. There are differences in death rates between Poland and neighboring countries.
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health, The Children's Memorial Health Institute, Warsaw, Poland.
authors.forename: Aneta
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Grajda
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health, The Children's Memorial Health Institute, Warsaw, Poland. z.kulaga@ipczd.pl.
authors.forename: Zbigniew
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Kułaga
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health, The Children's Memorial Health Institute, Warsaw, Poland.
authors.forename: Beata
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Gurzkowska
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health, The Children's Memorial Health Institute, Warsaw, Poland.
authors.forename: Magdalena
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Góźdź
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health, The Children's Memorial Health Institute, Warsaw, Poland.
authors.forename: Małgorzata
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wojtyło
authors.affiliation: Department of Nephrology and Arterial Hypertension, The Children's Memorial Health Institute, Warsaw, Poland.
authors.forename: Mieczysław
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Litwin
mesh_terms: D000059:Accidents; D000293:Adolescent; D000367:Age Factors; D002423:Cause of Death / Q000639:trends*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003644:Death Certificates; D004332:Drowning; D005060:Europe; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D061213:Mortality, Premature / Q000639:trends*; D011044:Poland; D012737:Sex Factors; D013405:Suicide; D014947:Wounds and Injuries; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Adolescents; Annual percent change; Children; External causes of death