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Age, Ethnicity, and Socioeconomic Factors Impacting Infant and Toddler Fall-Related Trauma
Sarit Shimony-Kanat1, Julie Benbenishty2
1From the School Of Nursing, Faculty of Medicine and.
Insights
Infants and toddlers face significant fall injury risks, with furniture falls common in younger babies and slipping in older toddlers. Age, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status are key predictors for targeted injury prevention strategies.
Area of Science:
- Pediatrics
- Trauma Surgery
- Public Health
Background:
- Trauma-related falls are a significant cause of injury in infants and toddlers.
- Understanding the specific causes and risk factors is crucial for developing effective prevention strategies.
Purpose of the Study:
- To characterize trauma-related falls in children aged 0-3 years.
- To develop a risk stratification model for fall injury causes.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of fall data from a Jerusalem tertiary hospital trauma registry (N=422) and the National Trauma Registry of Israel (N=4,131) from 2009-2012.
- Classification and regression tree analysis to identify predictors and causes of fall injuries.
Main Results:
- Nearly half of falls occurred in infants under one year old.
- Falls from furniture were the leading cause in 0-12 month olds, while slipping was most common in 13-36 month olds.
- Age, ethnicity, and low socioeconomic status were primary predictors of fall injury characteristics.
Conclusions:
- Age, ethnicity, and low socioeconomic status are leading determinants of fall injuries in young children.
- Community interventions should target these high-risk groups, tailoring strategies to their specific characteristics.
Objective:
To characterize trauma-related falls in infants and toddlers aged 0 to 3 years over a 4-year period and develop a risk stratification model of causes of fall injuries.
Methods:
Data on falls of 0 to 3 year olds from 2009 to 2012 were identified from a Jerusalem tertiary hospital trauma registry (N = 422) and the National Trauma Registry of Israel (N = 4,131).
Results:
Almost half of falls occurred during the first year of life, and 57% of the children were Jewish. The majority of the children lived in low socioeconomic environments, both in the Jewish (59.2%) and Arab (97.6%) samples. Most (74%) of the falls resulted in head injury. A classification and regression tree analysis indicated that falls from furniture were the leading cause of injury in 0 to 12 month olds (estimated probability of 37.9%), whereas slipping is the leading cause in 13 to 36 month olds (estimated probability of 38.4%). Age and ethnicity emerged as the leading predictors of the nature of a fall; Injury Severity Score and the child's sex were secondary. Compared with the national data, Jerusalem children had a higher incidence of falls from buildings (9.3%; 2.4%), a higher moderate-severe Injury Severity Score (>16), a higher incidence of traumatic brain injury, and a longer hospital length of stay (P < 0.001).
Conclusions:
The leading determinants of fall injuries in children below the age of 3 years are age, ethnicity, and low socioeconomic status. Future outreach community interventions should target these risk groups and be tailored to their defining characteristics.
