[School accidents revisited - A comparison oft wo five-year periods]

Children and adolescents spend up to 50% of their waking day attending school, during which they may have accidents and sustain injuries. Therefore, in 1971, the DGUV (German Statutory Accident Insurance) established the pupils insurance. The aim of the study was, for the first time, to analyse changes in the frequency and severity of accidents related to school attendance over a period of more than 20 years.

Retrospectively, based on the medical records of a German University Hospital, all school accidents from a five-year period from 1/2019 to 12/2023 and their causes, extent of injury and treatment effort were recorded and processed using descriptive statistics. For comparison, nearly identical data from the same Hospital from period 7/1999 to 6/2004 were available.

A total of 3031 school accidents were identified (comparison period: 1399). The average age was 10.7 years (11.8). While sports were the most frequent cause of accidents in the first study period, in the second period it was breaks and leisure activities (p<0.001). The distribution of injuries across body regions was roughly the same. The proportion of treatments requiring anaesthesia decreased from 16.4% to 5.1% (p<0.001).

Overall, the number of children and adolescents treated after a school accident increased significantly between the two periods. Minor injuries predominated. The causes can only be speculated upon so far. Numerically alone, however, the increase represents a considerable personnel and logistical challenge for the statutory accident insurance system. Our data can help to expand capacities in a targeted and needs-based manner. Furthermore, the focus of injury prevention in schools can potentially be adjusted.