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Pediatric Injuries Related to Window Blinds, Shades, and Cords
Bridget Onders1,2, Eun Hye Kim1,2, Thitphalak Chounthirath1
1Center for Injury Research and Policy, The Research Institute at Nationwide Children's Hospital, Columbus, Ohio.
Insights
Window blind cords pose a significant strangulation risk to young children, causing frequent neck injuries and deaths. A mandatory safety standard is needed to eliminate accessible cords and prevent these tragic incidents.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric injury prevention
- Consumer product safety
- Epidemiology
Background:
- Window blinds are common household items.
- Existing voluntary safety standards have not adequately protected young children from window blind-related injuries.
Purpose of the Study:
- To describe the epidemiology of fatal and nonfatal window blind-related injuries in US children under 6.
- To identify injury mechanisms and risk factors, particularly those involving blind cords.
Main Methods:
- Retrospective analysis of data from the Consumer Product Safety Commission's National Electronic Injury Surveillance System and In-Depth Investigation databases (1990-2015).
- Focus on injuries and cord entanglement incidents among children younger than 6 years.
Main Results:
- An estimated 16,827 window blind-related injuries occurred in US children under 6 (1990-2015).
- Strangulation from blind cords, primarily involving the neck, accounted for 11.9% of injuries, with a 67.1% fatality rate in detailed investigations.
- Most injuries were treated and released, but cord entanglements frequently led to severe outcomes.
Conclusions:
- Window blinds continue to pose a significant injury risk to young children despite current safety standards.
- Window blind cord entanglements are particularly dangerous, often resulting in hospitalization or death.
- A mandatory safety standard eliminating accessible window blind cords is recommended to enhance child safety.
Objectives:
To provide an epidemiologic description of fatal and nonfatal window blind-related injuries among US children younger than 6 years of age.
Methods:
Data from the Consumer Product Safety Commission's National Electronic Injury Surveillance System and In-Depth Investigation (IDI) databases were retrospectively analyzed.
Results:
From 1990 to 2015, there were an estimated 16 827 (95% confidence interval: 13 732-19 922) window blind-related injuries among children younger than 6 years of age treated in emergency departments in the United States, corresponding to an injury rate of 2.7 per 100 000 children. The most common mechanism of injury was "struck by" (48.8%). Entanglement injuries accounted for 11.9% of all cases, and among this subgroup, 98.9% involved blind cords, and 80.7% were to the neck. Overall, most injuries (93.4%) were treated and released. In IDI reports for 1996 through 2012, we identified 231 window blind cord entanglement incidents among children <6 years of age, and 98.7% involved the child's neck; entanglements with the window blind's operating cords (76.4%) or inner cords (22.1%) were the most common. Two-thirds of entanglement incidents included in the IDI database resulted in death (67.1%).
Conclusions:
Despite existing voluntary safety standards for window blinds, these products continue to pose an injury risk to young children. Although many of the injuries in this study were nonfatal and resulted in minor injuries, cases involving window blind cord entanglements frequently resulted in hospitalization or death. A mandatory safety standard that eliminates accessible window blind cords should be adopted.
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