Homicide Deaths by Year, New Mexico and U.S., 1999 to 2019

Why Is This Important?

Homicide, or death caused by an intentional assault of another person, is a significant public health problem in New Mexico. In 2016, homicide was a second leading cause of death among children 10-14; and the third leading cause of death among adolescents and adults 15-34 years. Homicide accounted for 7,196 years of potential life lost before the age of 75, sixth after unintentional injuries, cancer, heart disease, suicide, and chronic liver disease and cirrhosis deaths. Years of Potential Life Lost (YPLL) is a measure of premature mortality in a population that describes the impact of injury-related deaths on a society compared to other causes of death. Homicide deaths also affect the surviving family, friends, and community. In addition to the medical and funeral costs, the trauma, grief, and bereavement experienced by these individuals have long-lasting impacts that affect many aspects of their lives.

Definition

The homicide death rate is defined as the number deaths attributed to assault per 100,000 population. Homicides, or assault deaths, were defined by underlying cause of death based on the International Classification of Diseases, version 10 (ICD-10) codes.

Data Notes

• Rates have been age-adjusted using the direct method and the 2000 U.S. standard population.
• New Mexico homicide deaths include only NM resident deaths. All rates are per 100,000.

Data Sources

• New Mexico Death Data: Bureau of Vital Records and Health Statistics (BVRHS), Epidemiology and Response Division, New Mexico Department of Health.
  (https://www.nmhealth.org/about/erd/bvrhs/vrp/)
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics, CDC WONDER Online Database
  (http://wonder.cdc.gov)
• New Mexico Population Estimates: University of New Mexico, Geospatial and Population Studies (GPS) Program.
  (http://gps.unm.edu/)

How the Measure is Calculated

Data Issues

• Death Certificate Data

  Death certificate information is submitted electronically by funeral directors, who obtain demographic information from an informant, a close family member of the decedent. The NMDOH Bureau of Vital Records and Health Statistics (BVRHS) does annual trainings for funeral directors and local registrars and the death certificate information goes through extensive scrutiny for completeness and consistency. The cause of death is certified by the decedent's physician or the physician that attended the death. Accidental and suspicious deaths are certified by the Office of the Medical Investigator. When death certificates are received the cause of death literals are keyed into software locally by the BVRHS, then shipped to the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) where they are machine coded into ICD-10 cause-of-death codes. NCHS returns the ICD-10 codes to BVRHS where the death records are updated.

• New Mexico Population Estimates

  All population estimates apply to July 1 of the selected year. These estimates are considered the most accurate estimates for the state of New Mexico and should match those found on the University of New Mexico Geospatial and Population Studies website. Estimates include decimal fractions. Census tract population estimates were summed to produce County and Small Area population estimates. Population estimate totals may vary due to rounding. Population estimates for previous years are occasionally revised as new information becomes available. When publishing trend data, always be sure that your rates for earlier years match current rates on NM-IBIS that have been calculated with the most up-to-date population estimates.

Health Topic Pages Related to: Homicide

• Injury and Violence