Playground equipment injuries in a large, urban school district.
We studied the epidemiologic features of playground equipment-related injuries occurring in a large, urban school district over a two-year period. Nurses in each of the district's 68 elementary schools completed self-coded reporting forms on all injuries meeting standardized criteria. A total of 511 equipment-related injuries were reported, an incidence of 8.9 injuries per 1,000 student-years. One-fourth of the injuries were severe, and climbing equipment was disproportionately represented among playground equipment associated with injuries. Extreme variability was found among school-specific rates of equipment injury, with schools at the two extremes separated by as much as a 40-fold difference in incidence. Two school characteristics--smaller student enrollments and the presence of alternative educational programs--were significantly associated with higher equipment-related injury rates.
D001130:Arizona; D002648:Child; D004812:Epidemiologic Methods; D004869:Equipment Safety; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010988:Play and Playthings; D012574:Schools; D014505:Urban Population; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology*