Topic Editor: Frederick Rivara, MD, University of Washington, USA
Falls
Risks factors related to fall injuries include children’s age and development as well as the environmental conditions in which they are living. While toddlers are more likely to fall from steps, stairs, and furniture, older children fall most often from playground equipment and heights (e.g., balconies, trees, roofs, and fire escapes). Other risk factors include the lack of parental supervision and the absence of home safety devices.
Road Traffic Injury (RTI)
One factor explaining children’s heighten risk of being involved in RTI is their cognitive immaturity. Children need to first develop complex cognitive skills in order to reduce their tendency to act impulsively and to being able to gauge the appropriate amount of time for crossing a street. The recommended age at which children can safely cross the street by themselves is 10 years old. Another reason for the elevated number of RTI in childhood is the lack of use or misuse of child’s safety seats and seat belts. Correct use of seat restraints can reduce the RTI mortality rate by around 70%.
Drowning
While infants are most likely to drown in body of water at or near home (e.g., bathtub, bucket), older children drown most often in pools or natural bodies of water close to their homes. Children’s risk of drowning is reduced when pools are isolated by 4-sided fences and when they have been enrolled in formal swimming lessons. The chance of survival increases when they are resuscitated immediately after the incident by parents or bystanders.
Burns
Risk factors for burn-related injuries depend on children’s age, gender, and the level of parental supervision. Infants are more likely to be burned from hot liquids and house fires whereas older children, and especially boys, are more likely to burn themselves when playing with fire or smoker materials (e.g., lighters). Poverty, substandard housing, and open cooking fires are important risk factors for burns.
Poisoning
Children are more or less likely to experience a poisoning event depending on: 1) their age and sex; 2) their behavioural characteristics; 3) the use of child safety measures such as child resistant packaging for poisons in the home; and the availability of old medications and poisons in the home environment.
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