FRIDAY, Jan. 7, 2005 (HealthDayNews) -- Accidental injuries and deaths at home are a major public health issue in the United States, according to research by the University of North Carolina Injury Prevention Research Center.
"Between 1992 and 1999, we found that an average of 18,048 unintentional home injury deaths occurred annually in the United States," center director Dr. Carol W. Runyan said in a prepared statement.
"In addition, for 1998 alone, more than 12 million nonfatal unintentional injuries that required medical attention occurred at home," she added.
Falls, poisoning and burns are the leading causes of accidental deaths in U.S. homes.
"Rates of fall deaths were highest for older adults, poisoning deaths were highest among middle-aged adults, while fire and burn death rates were highest among children and older adults," Runyan said.
"Suffocation, inhalation and drowning deaths also are serious problems, especially for infants and toddlers. For nonfatal injuries, the risks are greatest for the youngest and oldest age groups," she said.
Males are more likely than females to be victims of both fatal and nonfatal injuries caused by accidents in homes.
The findings appear in the January issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.
More government funding for injury prevention is needed, the researchers said.
"At a time when so much attention is focused on homeland security, it is ironic that we can experience this magnitude of trauma in the home every year and have it go virtually unnoticed. Federal and state government, as well as private groups, should support more work on this issue," Runyan said.
More information
The Nemours Foundation offers a home safety checklist.
