EPIDEMIOLOGY OF CHILDHOOD PEDESTRIAN INJURIES

42310

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the epidemiological data of the childhood pedestrian injuries and determine some risk factors for prevention of such injuries.MATERIAL AND METHODS: The patients aged 0-18 years that had pedestrian injuries (PI) within the last 5 years that were admitted to a university hospital emergency ward were examined retrospectively. Injury codes, age, gender, the place of the accident, time, day, and month of the accident, presence of family during the accident, injured organ systems, duration of hospitalization, and results were analyzed. Appropriate statistical examinations were done to evaluate the data. RESULTS: In total 272 accidents were evaluated. There were 178 boys (65.4%) and 94 girls (34.6%). The highest number of accidents were detected in September (22.8%) and on Tuesdays (16.5%), and the lowest were in January and February (2.9%), and on Saturdays (10.7%). The most frequent time intervals that the accidents were happened were between 08:00 and15:59 (138 children, 50.7%), and between 16:00 and 23:59 (119 children, 43.8%). It was found that 63.6% of the accidents took place in the city grounds, and 51.7% happened when the child was not with the family. Twelve patients had permanent injuries including epilepsy, cerebral palsy, hearing loss, spastic hemiplegia, facial nerve injury, and flexion deformity. Six patients died (2.2%). CONCLUSIONS: Boys are more prone to pedestrian injuries, mainly in the city grounds, during working hours and in September. More studies are needed to determine the risk factors of pedestrian injuries and prevention measures.

7

Child , traffic accident , pedestrian injury , mortality

Kocatepe Medical Journal

10

Kocatepe Medical Journal