Accidents in schoolchildren: epidemiologic, aetiologic and prognostic considerations

A prospective follow-up study of school accidents occurring to 21 712 city pupils and to 1584 rural pupils aged 7-18 years during the school year 1977-78 was carried out. The facilities of the pupils to be referred to the school policlinics were practically as good to all pupils. The incidence of accidents was in Turku 363 per 1000 pupils aged 7-12 years and 233 per 1000 pupils aged 13-18 years. Minor injuries were in 84.2% of cases located in the extremities. In the great majority, they were slight sprains and strains (46.9%) or cutaneous lacerations and bruises (40.0%). More severe injuries were found in 4.9% among the Turku pupils and in 2.1% of those in Lieto. The accidents met by boys was almost double that found for girls. Individual exercise and sports turned out to involve approximately the same degree of risk as team sports. The site of injury was most commonly either the upper extremity (38%), lower extremity (28%), the head (22%) or the eyes (4%), the remaining 8% of injuries having been to the trunk. More than two thirds of the cases could be treated in two or three visits to nurse or doctor, the treatment period being two to seven days in the majority of cases. No delayed effects such as postconcussive headache or other psychosomatic symptoms occurred during the follow-up period of three years.