Adult accompaniment and the risk of pedestrian injury on the school-home journey.
OBJECTIVE
To quantify the effect of adult accompaniment on the risk of pedestrian injury on the school-home journey.


METHODS
A community based case-control study.


METHODS
The Auckland region of New Zealand.


METHODS
Cases (n = 54) were all children killed or hospitalized as a result of a pedestrian injury occurring on the school-home journey between 1 January 1992 and 1 March 1994. The response rate for the case group was 98%. Controls (n = 157) were a random sample of all children who walk to and from school in the study region. The response rate for the control group was 100%.


RESULTS
Adult accompaniment on the school-home journey was associated with a reduced risk of injury (odds ratio (OR) 0.36, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.04 to 1.66). This effect persisted after controlling for age, sex, and socioeconomic status (OR 0.31, 95% CI 0.07 to 1.49).


CONCLUSIONS
Adult accompaniment on the school-home journey may have the potential to significantly reduce child pedestrian injury rates. The effect of adult accompaniment may have important implications for the interpretation of child pedestrian exposure studies.
Roberts
I
I
Injury Prevention Research Centre, University of Auckland, New Zealand.
D000063:Accidents, Traffic / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D009520:New Zealand / Q000453:epidemiology; D016017:Odds Ratio; D011897:Random Allocation; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012307:Risk Factors; D012574:Schools; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D016138:Walking / Q000293:injuries*; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology