ArticleEmergency medicine journal : EMJ2026
Preinjury, injury and post-injury factors leading to death in children and young people who were victims of knife crime in England between 2019 and 2024: a review of the National Child Mortality Database.
Article in Emergency medicine journal : EMJ, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
11 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundKnife-related deaths in children present a serious public health challenge. This study reports the demographics and preinjury, injury and postinjury factors associated with death in children and young people (CYP), under the age of 18 years, who died of knife wounds in England between 2019 and 2024.
methodsA retrospective cohort review of the English National Child Mortality Database between April 2019 and March 2024. Rates of death were corrected for population size using the 2021 census. Preinjury, injury and postinjury factors associated with death are reported descriptively.
results145 CYP died of knife wounds. The mean age was 14.4 years (SD 4.2) and 90.3% (n=131) were male. The rates of death per 100 000 CYP, per year were highest in children of 'Black/Black British' ethnicity (1.40 (95% CI 1.03 to 1.86)), with an incidence rate ratio (IRR) of 13.29 (95% CI 8.23 to 20.00), compared with CYP of 'White' ethnicity. Children living in the most deprived areas, had a greater than seven times higher risk of death (IRR 7.48 (95% CI 3.22 to 17.29), compared to CYP living in the least deprived areas. Of the 57 cases available for detailed analysis, injuries to the chest and neck were responsible for the fatal injuries in 75.9% of cases (n=44) and 60.3% (n=35) died before reaching hospital. A thoracotomy was performed in 56.9% (n=33) of cases. Prior to death, 75.4% (n=43) had been known to social services and 57.9% (n=33) had experienced domestic violence and abuse. Neurodiversity or mental health concerns were reported in 50.9% (n=29) of CYP.
conclusionsDeath of CYP secondary to knife wounds occurred in all regions of England. Many children are exposed to adverse childhood experiences before death and known to statutory services. The identification of interventions to decrease the risk to children from knife violence remains a priority.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.