title: Modeling the risk: innovative approaches to understand and quantify the risk of severe FB injury.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The entry of a small item into the respiratory or digestive tract is still one of the leading causes of injuries in children up to 14 years old. The aim of the paper is to provide a quantitative risk assessment analysis for identifying consumer product features which contribute to increase the risk of sustaining a severe injury.
  
  
  METHODS
  Data on foreign body injuries were collected in 28 European countries and one Pakistani hospital. A total of 7296 cases were classified according to ICD-9CM 931-935. Information about injuries included age and gender of the injured child, circumstances of the accident and foreign body features. A classification tree was set up in order to analyze the impact of the item features like volume shape and rigidity on the severity of the injury.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Males are involved in severe injuries more often than females. Most severe injuries when the foreign body is localized in the ears were due to objects with volume lesser than 49 mm(3). Volume cut-off is slightly higher for foreign bodies that have been found in the nose (55 mm(3)). Objects with conforming rigidity pose children to higher risk of severe injury.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The presence and supervision of an adult is crucial in reducing the risk for severe injuries both in pharynx and laryhnx and in mouth.
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health and Microbiology, University of Torino, Torino, Italy. paola.berchialla@unito.it
authors.forename: Paola
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Berchialla
authors.forename: Luisa
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Bellussi
authors.forename: Annalisa
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Castella
authors.forename: Silvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Snidero
authors.forename: Desiderio
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Passali
authors.forename: Dario
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Gregori
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005060:Europe / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D005547:Foreign Bodies / Q000145:classification / Q000453:epidemiology*; D041981:Gastrointestinal Tract / Q000293:injuries*; D006760:Hospitalization / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D038801:International Classification of Diseases; D008297:Male; D010154:Pakistan / Q000453:epidemiology; D012137:Respiratory System / Q000293:injuries*; D018570:Risk Assessment; D017678:Sex Distribution