277969
Injuries associated with strollers and carriers among children in the US, 1990-2010
Erica Fletcher, MPH,
Center for Injury Research and Policy, The Research Institute at Nationwide Children's Hospital, Columbus, OH
Christopher Kobe, BS,
Center for Injury Research and Policy, The Research Institute at Nationwide Children's Hospital, Columbus, OH
Kristin Roberts, MS, MPH,
The Center for Injury Research and Policy, The Research Insitute at Nationwide Children's Hospital, Columbus, OH
Lara B. McKenzie, PhD, MA,
Center for Injury Research and Policy, The Research Institute at Nationwide Children's Hospital, Columbus, OH
Objective: To describe characteristics, incidence, and patterns of injuries associated with strollers and carriers among young children in the United States. Methods: A retrospective analysis was conducted by using data from the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System for children ≤5 years of age who were treated in emergency departments (1990-2010) for an injury associated with a baby stroller or carrier.Results: An estimated 360,937(95% Confidence Interval: 294,279-427,594) children aged <5 years were treated in emergency departments for injuries related to these products during the study period, an average of 18,047 per year. For stroller-related injuries, most patients were male (52.4%) and <1 year old (54.9%); the head (43.0%), face (31.0%), and mouth (12.5%) were most commonly injured. The most common diagnoses were soft tissue injuries (39.5%) and traumatic brain injuries(24.7%). For carriers, most patients were male (52.5%) and <1 year old (89.0%), the most often injured body regions were the head (61.5%) and face (24.7%); soft-tissue injuries (48.5%) and traumatic brain injuries (35.3%) were the most common diagnoses. Carrier-related injuries resulted in more hospitalizations (6.7%) than stroller associated injuries (2.4%). Overall, most hospitalizations (72.0%) were attributable to traumatic brain injuries. Conclusions: Injuries associated with strollers and carriers are often the result of falls from or tip overs in these products and occur to children <1 year of age. Given the number of injuries, particularly those associated with falls from or tips overs while using the product, greater efforts are needed to ensure safety in product design, usage, and product safety testing.
Learning Areas:
Epidemiology
Public health or related research
Learning Objectives:
Describe the epidemiology of injuries associated with strollers and carriers among young children in the United States.
Keyword(s): Children, Injury
Presenting author's disclosure statement:Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am the senior author on this manuscript and supervised the data analysis and manuscript preparation. I have extensive experience utilizing National Electronic Injury Surveillance System data to estimated the number and type of consumer product-related injuries treated in US emergency departments.
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.
