Epidemiology of School-Related Injuries in Belgium. A Better Knowledge for a Better Prevention

Abstract

The landmark Convention on the Rights of the Child states that children around the World have right to safe environment. In Belgium, as in many countries, children spend, on average, 4.5 weekdays at school, during nearly 8 hours per day. Studies have shown that, the risk of school-related injury exceeds the risk during leisure time. Literature reports that school accidents account for 10 to 30% of all accidents among pupils. Despite that, few papers treat of the school-related injuries. Consequently, based on 1540 accidents forms from an insurance company, injury places, mechanisms involved, body parts injured and nature of injuries were described. Head injuries, upper and lower limbs injuries were investigated in more details. Pearson's chi-square test was used to assess the relationships between the variables and multivariate logistic regression models were used to study the three specific types of injuries cited above. Gender ratio (M/F) was equal to 1.6 with 25.9% of children under 6 years, 29.4% of 6 -9 years, 26.9% of 10 -12 years and 17.8% from 13 years or more. The major places of injuries were the playground (56.9%) and the physical education (19.7%). Falls were observed in 52.1% of cases and contacts were reported in 24.3%. The head injuries account for 40.6%, the upper limbs for 32.0% and the lower limbs injuries for 20.2%. The bruises and the scratches were observed in 23.8% and the wounds in 21.5%. Fractures were reported in 16.1%. In conclusion, having a routine access to the data from the insurance companies could be an important source of information for an injury surveillance system in which the school injuries will be included. Taking into account this data will require an awareness of all the concerned persons about the relevance of such a system and a harmonization of the accidental forms.

Adolescent school injuries and classroom sex compositions in German secondary schools

“…However, peer contexts have rarely been considered in the literature on school injuries so far. Previous studies have relied on medical record data to investigate patterns among injured students [ 3 , 5 , 9 , 12 , 20 , 31 ]. However, injury records lack information on non-injured counterfactuals, inhibiting analyses of factors that might foster or prevent school injuries.…”

Characteristics of School Injuries Presenting to the Emergency Department

“…20 However, most of these studies, especially those with large samples, did not include clinical diagnoses and surgical requirement data. [4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19] This study aimed to investigate the frequency and severity of school injuries referred to ED among school-aged children according to the Injury Surveillance Guidelines and determine clinical diagnoses and surgery requirement data.…”

“… 2 3 There are many epidemiological studies on school accidents in the literature. 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Such studies are based on records obtained from school nursing units, national trauma registry, or emergency department (ED). Some researchers have evaluated injuries in subgroups, such as athletes and footballers, or specific injury sites, such as the head and lower extremity.…”

“… 20 However, most of these studies, especially those with large samples, did not include clinical diagnoses and surgical requirement data. 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 …”

Beden Eğitimi Derslerindeki Spor Yaralanmaları ve Beden Eğitimi Öğretmenlerinin Görüşleri

“…Başka bir çalışmada okullarda meydana gelen yaralanmalarda hastaneye gelen öğrencilerin %20,1'inin beden eğitimi dersinde olayın gerçekleştiğini söyledikleri rapor edilmiştir (Junkins vd., 2001). Belçika'da yapılan bir çalışmada ise okulda meydana gelen yaralanmaların birinci sırasını %56'yla oyun alanında oluşan yaralanmalar alırken bunların %19,7'sinin beden eğitimi dersi süresince meydana geldiği tespit edilmiştir (Senterre, Dramaix & Levêque, 2014). İsveç'te yapılan başka bir çalışmada beden eğitimi derslerinde öğrencilerin %16'sının bir veya daha fazla yaralanma geçirdiği tespit edilmiştir (Sundblad, Saartok, Engström & Renström, 2005).…”