Centers for Disease Control and the epidemiology of violence

Abstract

Violence is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in the United States. The Center for Health Promotion and Education, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has begun to apply epidemiologic techniques to study the problems of child abuse, child homicide, homicide, and suicide. CDC's involvement in these areas has evolved in association with significant shifts in emphasis in public health policy and planning, from areas of acute and infectious diseases to areas of chronic diseases and premature mortality. We have recently addressed the problems of reporting biases and definitional variability in regard to child abuse and have characterized child homicide in the United States. We are currently epidemiologically investigating the underrecording of child homicide in this country. Our future work will include delineation and evaluation of programs to prevent violence toward children and examination of the relationship between intrafamilial violence and extrafamilial, noncrime related violence.