WEDNESDAY, May 7, 2003 (HealthDayNews) -- Home is where the injury is.
Two studies by researchers at Children's Hospital Medical Center of Cincinnati found home is the single most common location for children to be injured in the United States.
Residential injuries remain a leading cause of death in children and adolescents -- particularly black children -- and home is the scene of most injuries that result in a visit to the emergency department.
The studies were presented at this week's Pediatric Academic Societies' annual meeting in Seattle.
Their findings include:
- Between 1985 and 1997, 2,800 children and adolescents died each year as a result of unintentional injury in U.S. homes. Sixty-nine percent of child and adolescent deaths in that time period were the result of accidents in the home.
- Between 1993 and 1999, children under age 20 made 4 million visits each year to U.S. emergency rooms.
- Almost one of every 10 ER visits for treatment of a injury suffered at home was for a moderate or severe injury.
The studies also found the accidental home injury death rate was twice as high for black children compared to white children -- seven per 100,000 population versus 3.3 per 100,000.
Children younger than 5 had the highest injury rate and boys were at greater risk than girls. The leading causes of death were fires or burns, submersions or suffocations, poisonings and falls.
The number of children who suffered fatal injuries in the home declined by about 25 percent a year between 1985 and 1997.
More information
Here's where you can learn more about child safety.
