194763 Swimming related injuries among children age 0-9 years treated in emergency departments, NEISS-AIP 2001-2006

Tuesday, November 10, 2009: 8:30 AM

Karin A. Mack, PhD , Division of Unintentional Injury Prevention, CDC's Injury Center, Atlanta, GA
Purpose

While drowning continues to be a leading cause of unintentional injury-related death in young children, other non-fatal swimming-related injury events (e.g., slipping on a pool deck) can have serious outcomes. The literature on swimming injuries focuses on drowning injuries and outcomes. The current study expands this area by describing all non-fatal injuries among young children sustained while swimming in pools or open water.

Methods

Data were from the 2001–2006 National Electronic Injury Surveillance System–All Injury Program, which collects information on all injuries treated in emergency departments from a stratified probability sample of US hospitals having ≥six beds and providing 24-hour emergency services. Cases were selected if the child was age 0-9 years, and if coded as an unintentional swimming (sport) injury or if the case record indicated the child was injured around a pool or in open water. Estimates were weighted.

Results

Nearly 190,000 children aged 0-9 years sustained swimming-related injuries that were treated in emergency departments during the 5-year period. Many injuries were fall-related (42.0%), followed by stuck by/against (31.4%); drowning (6.6%) and cut/pierce (4.1%) injuries. Nearly one-half of the injuries were lacerations (46.9%).

Conclusions

Over 30,000 children age 0-9 years were treated annually for swimming-related injuries. Case review indicates that many of these injuries were likely preventable through enhanced dissemination and enforcement of current pool safety guidelines (such as prohibitions regarding running on the pool deck (falls), glass objects near the pool (cut/pierce), and diving near other swimmers (struck by/against)).

Learning Objectives:
1. Describe swimming related injuries in young children. 2. Articulate pool safety guidelines for injury prevention among young children.

Keywords: Water, Injuries

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: recent publications: Judy Stevens, Karin Mack, Leonard Paulozzi and Michael Ballesteros. 2008. Self-Reported Falls and Fall-Related Injuries Among Persons Aged >65 Years —United States, 2006, Journal of Safety Research, 39:345-49. Fuzhong Li, Peter Harmer, Russell Glasgow, Karin A. Mack, David Sleet, K. John Fisher, Melvin A. Kohn, Lisa M. Millet, Jennifer Mead, Junheng Xu, Mei-Li Lin, Tingzhong Yang, Hang Zhou, Beth Sutton, Willamalane Tompkins. 2008. “Translation of an effective Tai Chi intervention into a community-based falls prevention program”, American Journal of Public Health, 98(7):1195-1198. Karin A. Mack, Julie Gilchrist, and Michael F. Ballesteros. 2008. “Injuries among infants treated in emergency departments, United States, 2001-2004”, Pediatrics, 121(5):930-937 Fuzhong Li, Peter Harmer, Karin A. Mack, David Sleet, K. John Fisher, Melvin A. Kohn, Lisa M. Millet, Junheng Xu, Tingzhong Yang, Hang Zhou, Beth Sutton, Yvaughn Tompkins. 2008. “Tai Chi: Moving for Better Balance – Development of a community-based falls prevention program”, Journal of Physical Activity and Health, 5:445-455. Karin A. Mack, Ellen Sogolow, Darcy Strouse and Paula Darby Lipman. 2008. “The role of supervision of children in injury prevention: Report from a CDC workshop”, Salud Pública de México, 50:Supplement 1: S112-114. Judy A. Stevens, Karin A. Mack, Leonard Paulozzi, Michael F. Ballesteros, 2008. “Prevalence of Falls and Fall Injuries among People Aged >65 Years—U.S., 2006”, MMWR, 57(9):225-229. Julie Gilchrist and Karin A. Mack. 2008. “Prevalence of pools and adequate pool fencing – US, 2001-2003,” International Journal of Aquatic Research and Education, 2(1):16-26. Shane T. Diekman, Sean P. Kearney, Mary E. O’Neil and Karin A. Mack. 2007. A Qualitative Study of Homeowners’ Emergency Preparedness Experiences, Perceptions and Practices, Prehospital and Disaster Medicine, 22(6):494-501. Mary E. O’Neil, Karin A. Mack and Julie Gilchrist, 2007. “Snake bite injuries treated in United States emergency departments, 2001-2004”, Wilderness Environmental Medicine, 18:281-287. Karin A. Mack, Julie Gilchrist and Michael F. Ballesteros. 2007. “Unintentional injuries among infants age 0-12 months”, Journal of Safety Research, 38(5):609-612. Mary E. O’Neil, Karin A. Mack and Julie Gilchrist. 2007. “Non-canine bite and sting injuries treated in U.S. emergency departments, 2001-2003”, Public Health Reports, 122 (Nov-Dec):764-775. Laurie Beck, Ruth Shults, Karin Mack and George Ryan. 2007. “Comparison of factors associated with safety belt use in states with and without primary enforcement laws”, AJPH, 97(9):1619-24. recent presentations: “Non-fatal unintentional injuries in children aged <15 years, Nicaragua, 2004” oral presentation, American Public Health Association Annual Meeting, San Diego, CA, October 2008 “Gender and falls among Medicare beneficiaries age 65 years of age and older, MCBS 2005” poster presentation, American Public Health Association Annual Meeting, San Diego, CA, October 2008 “Where Young Children Fall: Emergency Department Treated Fall Injuries In Children Age 1-9 Years” poster presentation, American Academy of Pediatrics, Boston, MA, October 2008 “Injuries among infants treated in emergency departments, United States, 2001-2004”, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control All-Hands Meeting, May 2008 “Stair-related injuries sustained by young children in 7 countries”, oral presentation, 9th World Conference on Injury Prevention and Safety Promotion, Merida, Mexico, March 2008 “Stair-related injuries sustained by infants, United States, 2001–2004”, oral presentation, American Public Health Association Annual Meeting, Washington, DC, November 2007 "Emergency department treated injuries sustained in falls out of windows, children age 0-9 years, United States 2001-2005" poster presentation at the National Injury & Violence Prevention Research Conference, Columbus, Ohio , October 2007 "Translation research in fall prevention" poster presentation at the National Injury & Violence Prevention Research Conference, Columbus, Ohio, October 2007 “Data Systems for Tracking Home Injuries”, oral presentation, National Center for Environmental Health, 2006 National Environmental Health Conference, Atlanta, GA December 2006 and organizer for session “Fires, Falls, and Fleeting Moments: The Research and Practice of Making Homes Safe”.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

See more of: ICEHS Special Session: Water-Related Injuries
See more of: Injury Control and Emergency Health Services