Guns, drugs and cars

are big factors that contribute to the life-expectancy gap between the United States and other developed nations, a study has found.

CHICAGO — Guns, drugs and cars contribute substantially to the life expectancy gap between the U.S. and other developed nations, a study found.

Deaths from those three things tend to happen at younger ages, contributing to many decades of life lost, researchers said. Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show injuries including from violence, car crashes and drug poisonings and overdoses are the leading cause of deaths for Americans up to age 44.

U.S. death rates from those three injury catego- ries exceed those in 12 other developed countries included in the study: Austria, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and the U.K., researchers said.

Among men, life expectancy in 2012 in those countries was 78.6 years versus 76.4 in the U.S. Injury- related deaths accounted for almost half of that difference, the study found. For women, life expectancy was also higher in the 12 other nations — 83.4 years versus 81.2 years in the U.S. Injuryrelated deaths accounted for about 20 percent of that difference.

Gun deaths were a major factor among men: The U.S. rate was 18.4 of such deaths per 100,000 men, versus 1 per 100,000 in the other countries. Among women, drug-related deaths explained most of the injuryrelated difference: The U.S. rate was 10 per 100,000 women versus fewer than 2 per 100,000 among women in the other countries.

The estimates are based on an analysis of 2012 data from the U.S. government and the World Health Organization. The injury data include accidental and intentional deaths and suicides and deaths from prescriptions and illicit drugs. The government study was published Tuesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association.