Unintentional Injuries in Children

In the United States, unintentional injuries represent a substantial concern to the health of children and adolescents. Even though children have a low baseline prevalence of significant injuries, they are more sensitive to accidental or unintentional injuries than to any other environmental hazard. Every year, between 20 and 25 percent of all children have an accident that necessitates medical treatment, missed school, and bed rest.

Unintentional Injuries

Unintentional injuries are the most significant cause of mortality for those aged one to twenty-one. An injury causes around one in every 17 fatalities in the general population in the United States. Unintentional fatalities account for 67% of all deaths. Motor vehicle accidents, drownings, burns (and other fire-related injuries), and suffocations account for the bulk of accidental injury mortality in children under 15.

Adolescents are more vulnerable to injury. Injuries kill more adolescents than other diseases combined, with teenage boys being more likely than their female counterparts to be engaged in a fatal injury across all categories of damage. Motor vehicle accidents, poisoning, drowning, and injuries from other land transport equipment account for most injuries among teenagers aged 15 and older.

Types of Injuries

There are various types of injuries in childhood are −

• Motor Vehicle

• Drowning

• Fire

• Suffocation

• Poisoning

• Pedestrian Injuries

• Playground Equipment

• Firearms

Motor Vehicle

Injuries sustained as a passenger in a motor vehicle are the most prevalent form of injury among children aged one to adulthood. Although these injuries have decreased recently due to regulations mandating child safety seats, numerous children are still wounded in motor vehicle incidents yearly. Adolescents are also at risk from motor vehicle accidents.

The danger of a car accident is exceptionally high during a teenager's first year of learning to drive. Male teenage drivers died at a rate more than twice as high as female adolescent drivers in 1998. A lack of driving experience, low safety belt usage rates, a higher risk of driving after drinking alcohol, and higher levels of nighttime driving among teenagers have all been offered as reasons for this high risk among adolescents.

Drowning

Drowning is the second highest cause of injury-related mortality in children aged one to fourteen. Most drowning casualties are men, while African American children account for a disproportionate percentage of drownings among children aged 5 to 19. Most drownings in children under the age of five occur in swimming pools. Other water risks include bathtubs, buckets of liquid, and open water such as rivers and lakes.

Fire

Burns caused by fire are likewise a big problem. Over 400,000 home fires occur annually in the United States, resulting in roughly 3,600 deaths and 18,600 injuries. Children under five, older individuals, and persons with lower incomes are the most likely to be impacted by these injuries and deaths. Most household fires originate in the winter and are caused by either cooking or smoking. The majority of deadly residential fires occur in houses that do not have a functioning smoke detectors.

Fireworks are another source of burns for youngsters. Children under 14 account for over 40% of those wounded by fireworks. Males are three times more likely than females to get fireworks-related injuries, with boys aged 5 to 14 most likely to sustain this injury. Burns account for over half of all fireworks-related injuries, although contusions and lacerations can also occur. Most of these injuries are caused by fireworks, bottle rockets, and sparklers.

Suffocation

For children under 15, suffocation is the fourth highest cause of mortality. Nearly 700 children aged 14 and younger died in 1997 from airway obstruction injuries (suffocation, choking, and strangling). Nearly 80% of these youngsters were under the age of five. Ingestion of small items, being tangled in threads or ribbons, entering restricted areas with limited amounts of air (e.g., a vehicle trunk, an abandoned refrigerator), and putting plastic objects (e.g., plastic bags, balloons) over the nose and mouth are all common causes of suffocation.

Poisoning

Poisoning causes fewer injury-related deaths but is a substantial health risk for children. Every year, roughly 900,000 people visit the emergency department due to the absorption of a poisonous chemical. The vast majority of poisonings occur in youngsters under the age of six. Most poisonings are caused by everyday household products such as cleaning chemicals, plants, and pharmaceuticals.

Pedestrian Injuries

Poisoning causes fewer injury-related deaths but is a substantial health risk for children. Every year, roughly 900,000 people visit the emergency department due to the absorption of a poisonous chemical. The vast majority of poisonings occur in youngsters under the age of six. Most poisonings are caused by everyday household products such as cleaning chemicals, plants, and pharmaceuticals.

Playground Equipment

Injuries that occur when children play on playground equipment are prevalent, accounting for over 200,000 emergency department visits yearly. Most of these injuries occur in public playgrounds, and 35% are severe. These injuries are typically caused by children falling from playground equipment (e.g., slides, monkey bars).

In addition, an estimated 140,000 children are treated in emergency departments each year for brain injuries received while riding a bicycle in recreational activities. Only 25% of youngsters aged 4 to 14 use bicycle helmets. Adolescent bicycle riders have a much lower rate. The expenses of bicycle-related brain injury or death were expected to surpass $3 billion in 1991.

Firearms

Unintentional shootings account for 20% of all firearm-related deaths among children 14 and younger. More than 2,500 children under 14 were injured by firearms in 1997. The fatality rate from unintentional firearm accidents among children under 15 is nine times greater in the United States than in the other 25 industrialized nations combined. The presence of a firearm in the house (mainly if it is unlocked and loaded) is linked to an increased risk of unintentional gunshot injuries among children.

As infectious illnesses declined, the significance of injuries as a hazard to children's health and development became increasingly evident. Clinical child and pediatric psychologists are increasingly involved in investigating injury occurrences, causes, and characteristics and preventing juvenile injuries. The Centres for Disease Prevention and Prevention collects epidemiological data on injuries and develops and evaluates effective prevention methods.

Conclusion

Unintentional injuries are the most significant cause of mortality in children aged one to twenty-one, with motor vehicle accidents, drownings, burns, and suffocations being the leading causes. Adolescents are more vulnerable to injury, with teenage boys being more likely than their female counterparts to be engaged in a fatal injury.

Drownings, fires, suffocation, poisoning, and pedestrian injuries are significant health risks for children under five, with drownings, fires, suffocation, poisoning, and pedestrian injuries being the most common. Poisonings, playground equipment, bicycle injuries, and firearms are significant hazards to children's health and development, and the Centres for Disease Prevention and Prevention are working to prevent them.