Seasonality of child homicide.

Abstract

To determine whether there is seasonal variation (by season and month of year) in homicides among young children. Homicide deaths in children<or=5 years (n=797), as identified in death certificates from 5 states (Indiana, Ohio, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Washington), were analyzed for a seasonality effect in the years 1999-2006. Season and month of calendar year were used as categorical variables. A chi2 goodness of fit test was used to compare observed and expected proportions of homicides for the entire population. Stratified analyses of children dying before age 2 years and those dying between 2 and 5 years of age were also conducted. The occurrence of homicide was proportional to the time interval in each category (P=.05). For the total population, there was no statistically significant variation between the expected and observed percentage of homicides by either season or month of calendar year (P=.46 and P=.74, respectively). For the stratified analyses, there was no statistically significant variation between expected and observed percentages of homicides by either season or month of calendar year for either population. There is no seasonality to child homicides by month of year or season of year among young children in the examined population.