Pediatric Injuries Requiring Hospitalization in Canada Dropping
Injury is the leading cause of death and disability among children and adolescents in
Canada. A new report from the Canadian Institute for Health Information indicates that the number of children injured each year in Canada has declined steadily over recent years.
The rate of child injury in 2005–2006 was 36.7 per 10,000 persons, compared to 40.6 per 10,000 persons, in 2001–2002.
The authors of report suggest that the decrease in pediatric injuries could be due to a variety of
factors, including:
Improved injury-prevention programs;
Changing practice patterns with changing hospital admission criteria;
Administrative changes; and
Legislation designed to target child safety concerns.
The leading cause of injury was unintentional falls (37%) with double the number of injuries of the second leading cause of injury, car accidents (18%).
It is perhaps not surprising that car accidents resulted in more serious injuries. The study reports that falls resulted in 24,433 hospital days with an average of 2.3 days required for treatment. Whereas car accidents resulted in 32,118 hospital days with an average hospital stay of 6 days required for treatment.
The leading cause of injury that resulted in death among children and adolescents under age 20 years was car accidents (55.5%).
While the trend towards fewer injuries is encouraging, more study is needed to identify the specific reasons for the decrease so that governments and hospitals can determine how to most effectively spend limited health care and trauma prevention dollars.
You can read the whole report here.
