Injuries and poisonings in out-of-home child care and home care

Area of Science:

• Pediatric Health
• Child Care Safety
• Injury Prevention

Background:

• Concerns exist regarding potential health risks, including injuries, associated with out-of-home child care settings.
• Previous research has not definitively established comparative injury rates between out-of-home and home-based child care environments.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate and compare the incidence of poisonings and injuries in children attending out-of-home child care versus home care.
• To determine if out-of-home child care presents a higher risk of injury compared to in-home care arrangements.

Main Methods:

• A national telephone survey was conducted to collect data on health events in children.
• Data specifically focused on poisonings and injuries, comparing occurrences during out-of-home child care, home care, and non-child care periods.
• Injury rates were calculated per 100,000 child-hours for different care settings.

Main Results:

• No poisonings were reported during out-of-home child care among 171 cases.
• The injury rate in out-of-home child care was 1.69 per 100,000 child-hours, significantly lower than the 2.66 rate for home care.
• Children in out-of-home care experienced higher injury rates during home care, influencing overall injury statistics.

Conclusions:

• Out-of-home child care does not appear to increase the risk of injury for children.
• In fact, out-of-home child care settings may offer a lower risk of injury compared to home care.
• While out-of-home care may increase infectious disease risk, it shows a protective effect against injuries.