Outcome of head and other injuries among Israeli children: physical limitations and stress symptoms.
BACKGROUND
Head injuries, especially in young children, are frequent and may cause long-lasting impairments.


OBJECTIVE
To investigate the outcome of head and other injuries caused by diverse mechanisms and of varied severity.


METHODS
The study population consisted of Jews and Arabs (n=792), aged 0-17 years old, hospitalized for injuries in six hospitals in Israel. Caregivers were interviewed during hospitalization regarding circumstances of the injury and sociodemographic variables. Information on injury mechanism, profile and severity, and length of hospitalization was gathered from the medical files. Five months post-injury the caregivers were interviewed by phone regarding physical limitations and stress symptoms.


RESULTS
Head injuries occurred in 60% of the children, and of these, 22.2% suffered traumatic brain injury with loss of consciousness (type 1). Among the rest, 22% of Jewish children and 28% of Arab children remained with at least one activity limitation, and no statistically significant differences were found among those with head or other injuries. The odds ratio for at least two stress symptoms was higher for children involved in transport-related injuries (OR 2.70, 95% confidence interval 1.38-5.28) than for other mechanisms, controlling for injury profile. No association was found between stress symptoms and injury severity.


CONCLUSIONS
Most children had recovered by 5 months after the injury. Residual activity limitations were no different between those with head or with other injuries. Stress symptoms were related to transport-related injuries, but not to the presence of TBI or injury severity.
Gofin
Rosa
R
Braun School of Public Health and Community Medicine, Hebrew University and Hadassah Medical Center, Jerusalem, Israel. gofin@cc.huji.ac.il
Avitzour
Malka
M
D000058:Accidental Falls / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D000063:Accidents, Traffic / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000293:Adolescent; D018912:Arabs; D001642:Bicycling / Q000293:injuries; D017028:Caregivers; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D006259:Craniocerebral Trauma / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D015601:Injury Severity Score; D007362:Intensive Care Units / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D007557:Israel / Q000453:epidemiology; D007585:Jews; D007902:Length of Stay / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008297:Male; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000453:epidemiology*; D014474:Unconsciousness / Q000453:epidemiology