The Epidemiology of Injuries in 4 Child Care Centers

Abstract

Objectives:(1) To describe the pattern of injury in preschool-aged children in 4 child care centers as compared with the results of other studies; (2) to compare injury rates by sex, age, and child care center; and (3) to examine environmental and child factors contributing to injury severity.Design: A 2-year cohort study of 362 preschool-aged children attending 4 urban child care centers. Teachers completed standardized injury forms on the type of injury, body location, site of injury, and contributing factors.Results: During the 2 years of the study, 1886 injuries were reported. The mean and median child injury rate was 6 and 4 injuries per 2000 exposure hours (equivalent to 1 full-time child care year), respectively. The majority of injuries (87%) were minor, occurred during free play (81%) and on the playground (74%), and were pre-cipitated by child-related factors (59%), such as being pushed. Boys had significantly higher median injury rates than girls. Age-adjusted injury rates for each child care center were significantly different by center (F 3 = 61, PϽ.001). While moderate to severe injuries were more often precipitated by combinations of child and environmental factors ( 2 4 = 20, PϽ.001), minor injuries were usually precipitated by child-related factors.Conclusions: Injury data from child care centers are important for identifying common risk factors for frequent or severe injury events and for designing injury prevention programs. More research is needed to identify factors contributing to injuries, such as children's behavior and the child care centers' physical and socioemotional environments.

Analysis of 347 kindergarten-related injuries

“…However, despite significant improvements to create a safer environment in daycare facilities, Alkon et al reported a rate of 10% of moderate and severe injuries related to kindergartens. Surprisingly, no fractures were reported in this study [2]. It has also been stated that children with frequent minor injuries at a young age are more likely to sustain severe injuries at a later time point [1].…”

Kinderunfälle und deren Prävention

“…Diese Sicherheitszunahme basiert auf einer Kombination von Regulativprozessen und Gesetzesvorgaben. Dennoch sind in der Literatur trotz der erfolgreichen Optimierungen bis zu 10% mittlere und schwere Verletzungen im Kindergarten beschrieben [2]. Ebenfalls wurde ein höheres Risiko für das Erleiden eines schweren Unfalls bei Kindern postuliert, welche im frühen Kindesalter eine leichte Verletzung erlitten hatten [1].…”

“…Ebenfalls wurde ein höheres Risiko für das Erleiden eines schweren Unfalls bei Kindern postuliert, welche im frühen Kindesalter eine leichte Verletzung erlitten hatten [1]. Die Ursache für eine Verletzung im Vorschulalter ist in einer Kombination aus impulsivem oder minder kontrolliertem Temperament, mangelnder Aufsicht und im männlichen Geschlecht zu finden [2,3]. Unter Berücksichtung dieser Tatsachen wurden über einen Zeitraum von 2 Jahren (2004-2006) 347 (1,6%) Kindergartenunfälle von insgesamt 21.582 Kinderunfällen analysiert [5].…”

Controle de injúrias sob a ótica da pediatria contextual

“…There is a paucity of reports on the differences of injury risks among children cared for by their mothers and those taken care of at day care centers; traumatic events at day care centers, which correspond to approximately 10% of the total events in this age group, are usually mild and associated with playgrounds. [97][98][99] However, since there is a confirmed relationship between the compliance with safety rules by day care centers (including the level of education of their personnel) and a reduction in the number of injuries, experts are concerned with the exceeding risk that may be caused by spontaneous search for informal day care centers (with no inspection), due to economic and social reasons. 99 It is estimated that 10 to 20% of injuries among schoolaged children occurs at school, and two thirds of these injuries occur during sports activities.…”