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Injuries among US children with different types of disabilities
Sara A Sinclair1, Huiyun Xiang
1Center for Injury Research and Policy, The Research Institute at Nationwide Children's Hospital, 700 Children's Dr, Columbus, OH 43205, USA.
Insights
Children with disabilities face a higher risk of injury, particularly those with emotional or behavioral problems. Injury characteristics, however, remain similar across disability statuses.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric health
- Disability studies
- Injury prevention
Background:
- Children with disabilities may have different injury risks.
- Understanding these risks is crucial for targeted prevention strategies.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate if injury risk varies by disability type in children.
- To determine if injury episode characteristics differ based on disability status.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of nationally representative data (1997-2005 National Health Interview Survey).
- Comparison of medically attended injuries in children (0-17 years) with and without disabilities.
- Calculation of injury prevalence and risk stratified by disability type.
Main Results:
- Children with any disability showed a higher injury prevalence (3.8% vs 2.5%).
- Only children with emotional or behavioral problems had a significantly higher injury risk (PR=1.50).
- Injury episode characteristics were not significantly different by disability status.
Conclusions:
- Certain disabilities, like emotional or behavioral problems, increase children's injury risk.
- Injury types and characteristics are comparable between children with and without disabilities.
Objectives:
We sought to determine whether risk of injury differs among children on the basis of the type of disability, and whether the characteristics of injury episodes differ by disability status.
Methods:
We used nationally representative data from the 1997-2005 National Health Interview Survey to compare medically attended injuries among children aged 0 to 17 years who had and did not have a disability. Characteristics of injury episodes were compared by disability status. We calculated prevalence and risk of injury by type of disability.
Results:
Children who had a single disability had a significantly higher prevalence of injury than children without a disability (3.8% vs 2.5%; P<.01). Characteristics of injury episodes did not differ significantly by disability status (P>.05). After we controlled for sociodemographic variables, we found that only children with emotional or behavioral problems had a significantly higher risk of injury compared with children without a disability (prevalence ratio=1.50; 95% confidence interval=1.15, 1.97; P<.01).
Conclusions:
Children with certain types of disabilities are at a significantly higher risk of injuries than are children without disabilities, but the characteristics of injuries are similar.
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