Unintentional injuries among 16 to 20 year old students in Switzerland.
In our society, accidents constitute a major public health problem, especially among youth. The objective of this paper was to describe the incidence of nonfatal injuries that required medical care among 16 to 20 year-old in Switzerland, its distribution by type of injury and whether there were differences by gender or by academic track and whether these injuries had sequels (hospitalisation, physical and psychological sequels). Overall, 28.3% of the sample reported at least one accident needing medical care in the previous 12 months, with males having more accidents than females and apprentices more than students. By type of accident, sports were the most frequently reported, followed by traffic, leisure time and work accidents. Half of males and one-third of females reported more than one accident, and 16% and 8% of them, respectively, reported four or more. Both physical and psychological sequels were more frequent among females, while hospitalisation was more frequent among males. Accident prevalence rates remain high among adolescents. Safety counselling and environmental measures need to be implemented.
Suris
Joan-Caries
JC
Groupe de Recherche sur la Santé des Adolescents, IUMSP, Lausanne, Switzerland. Joan-Carles.Suris@hospvd.ch
Jeannin
André
A
Michaud
Pierre-André
PA
Narring
Françoise
F
Diserens
Chantal
C
D000056:Accident Prevention; D000059:Accidents / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012306:Risk; D017678:Sex Distribution; D013334:Students / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D013557:Switzerland / Q000453:epidemiology; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000517:prevention & control