Gloucester County Public Health Profile Report
Deaths due to Firearm-related Injury: Deaths per 100,000 Population, 2016-2020
Gloucester 4.495% Confidence Interval (3.4 - 5.5)Description of the Confidence IntervalThe confidence interval indicates the range of probable true values for the level of risk in the community.
A value of "NA" (Not Available) will appear if the confidence interval was not published with the NJSHAD indicator data for this measure.State 5.0U.S. 12.2Gloucester Compared to State
Description of GaugeDescription of the Gauge
This graphic is based on the county data to the left. It compares the county value of this indicator to the state overall value.- Excellent = The county's value on this indicator is BETTER than the state value, and the difference IS statistically significant.
- Watch = The county's value is BETTER than state value, but the difference IS NOT statistically significant.
- Improvement Needed = The county's value on this indicator is WORSE than the state value, but the difference IS NOT statistically significant.
- Reason for Concern = The county's value on this indicator is WORSE than the state value, and the difference IS statistically significant.
The county value is considered statistically significantly different from the state value if the state value is outside the range of the county's 95% confidence interval. If the county's data or 95% confidence interval information is not available, a blank gauge image will be displayed with the message, "missing information."NOTE: The labels used on the gauge graphic are meant to describe the county's status in plain language. The placement of the gauge needle is based solely on the statistical difference between the county and state values. When selecting priority health issues to work on, a county should take into account additional factors such as how much improvement could be made, the U.S. value, the statistical stability of the county number, the severity of the health condition, and whether the difference is clinically significant.
Why Is This Important?
Violence is a major public health concern throughout the United States.How Are We Doing?
The Healthy New Jersey 2020 targets for age-adjusted death rates among the total population and Blacks were achieved by 2019 but rates rose above the targets in 2020. The targets for males aged 15-19 were achieved and remain below the targets through 2020. The firearm-related age-adjusted death rate among Blacks is more than 5 times the rates among Whites and Hispanics. County rates per 100,000 population (age-adjusted) range from a low of 1.8 in Bergen to a high of 12.9 in Salem (2016-2020).What Is Being Done?
New Jersey already has some of the strictest firearm laws in the nation. In January, 2017, the Governor signed into law a revision of certain existing laws concerning domestic violence and firearms ([https://www.njleg.state.nj.us/2016/Bills/PL16/91_.PDF P.L.2016, c.91]), which enhances protections for domestic violence victims by restricting access to firearms by a person convicted of a domestic violence crime or subject to a domestic violence restraining order. For female homicide victims, more than half of homicides are committed by a current or former intimate partner, and a majority of those deaths involve a firearm.[http://www.state.nj.us/health/chs/njvdrs/ ^1^] The Governor's Study Commission on Violence released a [https://www.nj.gov/oag/library/SCV-Final-Report--10-13-15.pdf report of recommendations] to the Governor on ways to combat all types of violence from a public health perspective in October, 2015. The New Jersey Department of Health maintains the [http://www.state.nj.us/health/chs/njvdrs/ New Jersey Violent Death Reporting System] (NJVDRS), a CDC-funded surveillance system that tracks suicides, homicides, unintentional firearm deaths, injury deaths of undetermined intent, and deaths by legal intervention and is used to educate public health and public safety professionals in the state and inform their interventions and decision-making, with the ultimate goal of reducing the incidence of violent deaths. NJVDRS is part of the [https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/datasources/nvdrs/index.html National Violent Death Reporting System].Healthy People Objective IVP-30:
Reduce firearm-related deathsU.S. Target: 9.3 deaths per 100,000 population (age-adjusted)
State Target: 4.7 deaths per 100,000 population (age-adjusted)
Note
County is the decedent's county of residence, not the county where the injury occurred.Data Sources
Death Certificate Database, Office of Vital Statistics and Registry, New Jersey Department of Health Population Estimates, [https://www.nj.gov/labor/lpa/dmograph/est/est_index.html State Data Center], New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce DevelopmentMeasure Description for Deaths due to Firearm-related Injury
Definition: Deaths with a firearm-related injury as the underlying cause of death.
ICD-10 codes: W32-W34 (unintentional), X72-X74 (suicide), X93-X95 (homicide), Y22-Y24 (undetermined intent), Y35.0 (legal intervention)
Numerator: Number of deaths due to firearm-related injuries of all intentions
Denominator: Total number of persons in the population