Missouri Collecting Violent Death Information Using National Violent Death Reporting Systems (NVDRS) - A well-recognized and significant public health issue in the United States (U.S.), violence affects people of all genders, ages, races, ethnicities, religions and sexual orientations. With a population of just over six million, Missouri recorded 2,063 violent deaths (homicides, suicides and undetermined deaths) in 2020 ─ the 9th highest rate of violent death in the United States. The magnitude of violent death in Missouri is underscored by the fact that Missouri has both a rate of suicide that is statistically significantly higher than the national rate (18.3 per 100,000 compared to 13.5 per 100,000 in 2020) and two cities that ranked as having the 2nd and 6th highest rates of violent crime in U.S. cities with populations over 250,000. Suicide rates have increased from 15.5 to 18.3 per 100,000 between 2011 and 2020. Violent deaths in both cities continue to be an endemic problem disproportionately affecting minority communities and are the source of significant pain and suffering to the surviving families and communities. The Missouri Violent Death Reporting System (MOVDRS) was established in 2017 through a cooperative agreement between the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services (MO DHSS) and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in an effort to address the significant, preventable public health issue of violence. The MOVDRS collects violent death data from death certificates, coroners, medical examiners, and law enforcement agencies to gather high quality, comprehensive data on the circumstances surrounding violent deaths. Each year, MOVDRS leverages funding and partnerships to: Collect high quality, comprehensive violent death; Improve data quality and timeliness; Expand data collection and strengthen partnerships with existing data providers; Disseminate MOVDRS data for use by violence prevention partners; Investigate and implement innovative methods of improving and using MOVDRS data; Work with stakeholders and partners to incorporate feedback into the MOVDRS implementation for continuous quality improvement. The MOVDRS program disseminates data for use by the state and local health departments, community health program planners, healthcare professionals, students, researchers and epidemiologists to develop research and guide decisions on violence prevention efforts in their respective communities. These data are regularly evaluated to report timely violence-related statistics for the public, identify risk factors, and inform and evaluate prevention programs, legislation, and health policies. As a standardized surveillance system, Missouri will be able to compare violent death data nationally and with states that share similar demographics. MOVDRS staff continually work with internal and external partners on innovative approaches to increasing data quality and completeness and integrating data to create a more comprehensive understanding of violent death. In summary, this funding will enable Missouri to maintain and enhance the MOVDRS facilitating Missouri’s capacity to gather data on violent deaths beyond conventional means. Furthermore, data dissemination from this system will continue to be used to actively engage partners towards implementing evidence-based violence prevention programs in their respective communities to reduce violent deaths. The primary goal of the NVDRS program is to generate timely, quality data that meets the needs of public health in Missouri.
