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Trajectory Data Analyses for Pedestrian Space-time Activity Study
Published on: February 25, 2013
Time trend analyses of child pedestrian morbidity in Japan
S Nakahara1, M Ichikawa2, T Sakamoto1
1Department of Emergency Medicine, Teikyo University School of Medicine, 2-11-1 Kaga, Itabashi, Tokyo, 173-8606, Japan.
Insights
Child pedestrian injuries in Japan declined significantly, especially in younger children, during the 2000s. This trend may reflect improved traffic safety and behavioral changes.
Area of Science:
- Public Health
- Epidemiology
- Traffic Safety
Background:
- Road traffic injuries pose a significant global health challenge, particularly for child pedestrians.
- Understanding temporal trends in child pedestrian injuries is crucial for effective prevention strategies.
Purpose of the Study:
- To quantitatively analyze time trends of child pedestrian injuries in Japan from 1975 to 2013.
- To examine these trends across different age groups.
Main Methods:
- Utilized nationally aggregated police data on pedestrian injuries requiring medical treatment for children aged 0-15 years (1975-2013).
- Applied joinpoint regression analysis by age group (0-3, 4-6, 7-9, 10-12, 13-15 years) to identify trend changes.
Main Results:
- Preschool children (0-6 years) exhibited continuous declining injury trends, accelerating in the 2000s.
- School-aged children (7-15 years) showed minimal change until the 1990s, with declines observed in the 2000s.
- Younger age groups experienced steeper declines in pedestrian injuries during the 2000s.
Conclusions:
- Declining child pedestrian injury trends in the 2000s suggest improvements in Japan's traffic environment.
- Disparities between preschool and school-aged children may stem from age-related behavioral differences, such as altered outdoor activity levels.
Objectives:
Road traffic injuries, particularly pedestrian injuries, are a major health issue among children worldwide. The present study quantitatively analyzed the time trends of child pedestrian injuries in Japan from 1975 to 2013 by age.
Study Design:
Time trend analysis of nationally aggregated data.
Methods:
We analyzed police data on pedestrian injuries requiring medical treatment among children aged 0-15 years occurring between 1975 and 2013. To quantify the time trends of pedestrian injury morbidity rates and to identify change-points in the trends, joinpoint regression analysis was applied by age group. Children were categorized into the age groups of 0-3, 4-6, 7-9, 10-12, and 13-15 years old.
Results:
Preschool children aged 0-6 years old showed continuous declining trends throughout the study period; these declining trends accelerated in the 2000s. School-age children aged 7-15 years old showed minimal changes from the early 1970s to the 1990s; of this age group, children aged 7-12 years old showed slight but significant declining trends in the first half and increasing trends in the latter half of this period. Children aged 7-15 years old showed declining trends in the 2000s. Despite the consistent declining trends among all age groups in the 2000s, the younger age groups showed steeper declines during this period.
Conclusions:
The declining trends in all age groups in the 2000s may reflect the improved traffic environments in Japan although the environmental approaches are not yet sufficiently adopted yielding modest effects. The continuing contrast between preschool and school-age children may reflect different behaviour changes by age such as more restricted outdoor activities among young children.
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