Objective: To identify and describe associations between students’ gender, school injury factors, and medical outcome of school injuries.
Methods: Utah statewide school injury data (1996) was probabilistically linked with emergency department, and inpatient records.
Results: In 1996, 6,337 students had a reported injury. An association between students’ gender and grade (p=0.032) showed males sustained more injuries in grades 7-12, while females sustained more injuries in grades K-6. Gender and activity were associated (p<0.001): leading activities for males were fighting/roughhousing (10.8%), and basketball (10.3%); leading activities for females were walking (13.7%), and running (13.1%). Gender was associated with contributing factor (p<0.001): leading contributing factors were collision with object or person for males (40.7%), and tripped/slipped/fall for females (41.6%). Of the 6,337 students injured, 1,515 were treated and released from the ED. More males received treatment than females (p=0.024). Gender was associated with injury type (p<0.001): males sustained more open wounds (19.3%), females sustained more sprains/strains (12.1%). Inpatient hospitalization was required for 46 of the 6,337 students. More males required hospitalization than females (p=0.040). Injury type was similar for both groups: leading injuries were fractures and intracranial injuries.
Conclusion: School injuries are an overlooked pediatric injury problem. Our study shows that injuries in the school environment can result in ED and inpatient hospitalization. In addition, we found that gender is associated with several factors of school injuries as well as the medical outcome of the injuries. Gender is an important component to consider when developing injury prevention strategies.
Learning Objectives: N/A
Keywords: School Health, Gender
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: None
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.