Pediatric Farm Injuries Presenting to United States Emergency Departments, 2001-2014

While it is well-known that injuries are a common cause of morbidity among children, limited information is available on injuries that occur in agricultural settings. This study characterizes pediatric farm injuries that present to United States emergency departments and compares them to injuries that occur in the normal course of childhood, at homes and residences.

A retrospective analysis of the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System-All Injury Program, 2001-2014, compared injuries occurring on farms to those at homes in youth ages <20 years. Linear regression models assessed injuries over the time period among demographic subgroups.

Between 2001 and 2014, there were an estimated 279,279 injuries that occurred on farms in youth <20 years. Farm injuries most commonly occurred among youth ages from 15 to 19 years (44%, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 39%-49%), whereas home injuries were often among children <5 years (42%, 95% CI: 39%-45%). After adjusting for confounders, farm injuries were 60 times more likely to be caused by machinery and 4 times more likely to result in hospitalization than home injuries. Overall, the number of farm injuries decreased by 44% between 2001 and 2014.

Characteristics of youth farm injuries are much different from injuries occurring at homes. Although the overall number of farm injuries among youth has decreased substantially over time, injury prevention initiatives targeted toward these particular injuries are important to continue due to the significant morbidity of these injuries.