Serious Injuries In Children: Disparities Between Rich And Poor, Cities And Villages

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Main Category: Pediatrics / Children's Health
Also Included In: Bones / Orthopaedics;  Public Health
Article Date: 08 May 2008 - 0:00 PST

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Serious injury in child pedestrians is more four times more common in the poor areas of England than in affluent areas, according to research released on April 1, 2008 in the BMJ Specialty journal Archives of Disease in Childhood.

To investigate this, researchers examined hospital admission rates in children aged 15 years or less between the years of 1999 and 2004. Approximately 664,000 children were admitted during this period, of which about 8,000 entered with serious injuries. Each was classified with neck and thigh fractures, multiple rib fractures, head injuries, neural and spinal cord injuries, suffocation, or hypothermia. More than one third of all admissions were for some kind of fall, and falls accounted for more than two of every five serious injuries.

In a comparison of the demographics of the areas where the children were admitted, children in the most deprived areas of the country were four times as likely as those in more affluent communities to sustain serious injuries. Cyclists, car passengers, and children who sustained a fall followed a similar trend, with those in lower affluence areas being twice as likely to be seriously injured.

In a comparison of urban and rural areas, child pedestrians generally had lower injury rates than in cities, but there was significant variation in this data. Children inside cars were, however, 50% more likely to be seriously injured in villages than in cities. London, however, had 22% lower injury in child cyclists than in other cities. In comparison to most cities, falls resulting in serious injuries were 60% more prevalent in London and 20% less prevalent in villages.

While deaths due to injury in children have fallen over the past two decades, from 11 in every 100,000 to 4 in the same group, the authors stay that inequalities remain between rich and poor. They then suggest various courses of action to help remedy this problem.

Serious injuries in children: variation by area deprivation and settlement type
Online First Arch Dis Child 2008
doi 10.1136./adc.2007.116541
P Edwards, J Green, K Lachowycz, C Grundy, I Roberts
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Written by Anna Sophia McKenney
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