title: Unintentional child home injury incidence and patterns in six countries in Europe.
abstract: This study investigates the incidence and patterns of child home injuries in six European Union countries. Emergency department and inpatient injury data on injuries to children aged 0-18 years in the home (n = 88,567) for the years 2003-2004 were extracted from the European Injury Database in Austria, Denmark, France, Netherlands, Portugal and Sweden. The incidence of child home injuries was 44.9/1000 inhabitants Six age-dependent injury patterns were identified using cluster analysis: 1) open wound head injuries; 2) hospital admissions for bruises, contusions, abrasions; 3) falls on stairs indoors; 4) fractures and sprains of the upper extremities; 5) crush/cut/piercing of the fingers; 6) miscellaneous injuries. Child home injuries are a considerable public health problem, particularly in the ages 0 to 4 years. The findings are useful for injury surveillance at the European level yet do not allow for designing testable countermeasures for prevention within home safety initiatives.
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health Sciences, Karolinska Institutet, Sweden. msengoelge@hotmail.com
authors.forename: Mathilde
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sengoelge
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Bauer
authors.forename: Lucie
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Laflamme
mesh_terms: D000061:Accidents, Home / Q000145:classification / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D000293:Adolescent; D001317:Austria / Q000453:epidemiology; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003718:Denmark / Q000453:epidemiology; D005602:France / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D009426:Netherlands / Q000453:epidemiology; D011174:Portugal / Q000453:epidemiology; D012042:Registries; D013548:Sweden / Q000453:epidemiology