Trends of fatal unintentional injuries among working-age adults in Finland between 1998 and 2022.

Background: Unintentional injuries pose significant challenges to public health, impacting individuals and communities. They also create significant economic costs for society as a whole. Common preventable fatal unintentional injuries among adults of working age include, among others, falls, poisonings, traffic accidents and drowning.

Aim: To examine the incidence trends of the changes in fatal unintentional injuries among working-age (25-64) adults in Finland, with alcohol and/or drug intoxication as a contributing cause of death.

Methods: We used open data from the Causes of Death register hosted by Statistics Finland. Injury deaths between 1998 and 2022 were included in the analysis. The Mann-Kendall non-parametric trend test was used for incidence rates, assessing whether a monotonic trend was present.

Results: The most common fatal unintentional injuries in working-age adults in Finland were due to poisonings, falls and traffic accidents. The results showed a significant downward trend in the number of all fatal unintentional injuries, with the exception of poisonings among the youngest age group, 25-34 years, in both males and females. The incidence of fatal unintentional injuries among men decreased by 53 % during the study period, and by 46 % among women. Men were more frequently involved in fatal unintentional injuries than women.

Conclusion: Fatal unintentional injuries among the working-age population have decreased in Finland due to national collaborative efforts in recent decades. However, preventive measures are still needed, especially to prevent unintentional injuries caused by substance abuse.