Risk and protective factors for falls on one level in young children: multicentre case-control study

Background: Childhood falls are an important global public health problem, but there is a lack of evidence about their prevention. Falls on one level result in considerable morbidity and they are costly to health services. Objective: To estimate odds ratios for falls on one level in children aged...

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Main Authors: Benford, P., Young, B., Coupland, C., Watson, M., Hindmarch, P., Hayes, M., Goodenough, T., Majsak-Newman, G., Kendrick, D.
Format: Article
Published: BMJ Publishing Group Ltd 2015
Online Access:https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/29720/
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author Benford, P.
Young, B.
Coupland, C.
Watson, M.
Hindmarch, P.
Hayes, M.
Goodenough, T.
Majsak-Newman, G.
Kendrick, D.
author_facet Benford, P.
Young, B.
Coupland, C.
Watson, M.
Hindmarch, P.
Hayes, M.
Goodenough, T.
Majsak-Newman, G.
Kendrick, D.
author_sort Benford, P.
building Nottingham Research Data Repository
collection Online Access
description Background: Childhood falls are an important global public health problem, but there is a lack of evidence about their prevention. Falls on one level result in considerable morbidity and they are costly to health services. Objective: To estimate odds ratios for falls on one level in children aged 0-4 years for a range of safety behaviours, safety equipment use and home hazards. Design, setting and participants: Multicentre case-control study at hospitals, minor injury units and general practices in and around 4 UK study centres. Participants included 582 children less than 5 years of age with a medically attended fall injury occurring at home and 2460 controls matched on age, sex, calendar time and study centre. Main outcome measure: Fall on one level. Results: Cases’ most common injuries were bangs on the head (52%), cuts or grazes not needing stitches (29%) or cuts or grazes needing stitches (17%). Comparing cases to community controls in the adjusted analyses, significant findings were observed for only 2 exposures. Injured children were significantly less likely to live in a household without furniture corner covers (adjusted odds ratio (AOR) 0.72, 95%CI 0.55, 0.95), or without rugs and carpets firmly fixed to the floor (AOR 0.76, 95% CI 0.59, 0.98). Conclusions: We did not find any safety practices, use of safety equipment or home hazards associated with a reduced risk of fall on one level. Our findings do not provide evidence to support changes to current injury prevention practice.
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spelling nottingham-297202020-05-04T20:05:53Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/29720/ Risk and protective factors for falls on one level in young children: multicentre case-control study Benford, P. Young, B. Coupland, C. Watson, M. Hindmarch, P. Hayes, M. Goodenough, T. Majsak-Newman, G. Kendrick, D. Background: Childhood falls are an important global public health problem, but there is a lack of evidence about their prevention. Falls on one level result in considerable morbidity and they are costly to health services. Objective: To estimate odds ratios for falls on one level in children aged 0-4 years for a range of safety behaviours, safety equipment use and home hazards. Design, setting and participants: Multicentre case-control study at hospitals, minor injury units and general practices in and around 4 UK study centres. Participants included 582 children less than 5 years of age with a medically attended fall injury occurring at home and 2460 controls matched on age, sex, calendar time and study centre. Main outcome measure: Fall on one level. Results: Cases’ most common injuries were bangs on the head (52%), cuts or grazes not needing stitches (29%) or cuts or grazes needing stitches (17%). Comparing cases to community controls in the adjusted analyses, significant findings were observed for only 2 exposures. Injured children were significantly less likely to live in a household without furniture corner covers (adjusted odds ratio (AOR) 0.72, 95%CI 0.55, 0.95), or without rugs and carpets firmly fixed to the floor (AOR 0.76, 95% CI 0.59, 0.98). Conclusions: We did not find any safety practices, use of safety equipment or home hazards associated with a reduced risk of fall on one level. Our findings do not provide evidence to support changes to current injury prevention practice. BMJ Publishing Group Ltd 2015-12 Article PeerReviewed Benford, P., Young, B., Coupland, C., Watson, M., Hindmarch, P., Hayes, M., Goodenough, T., Majsak-Newman, G. and Kendrick, D. (2015) Risk and protective factors for falls on one level in young children: multicentre case-control study. Injury Prevention, 21 (6). pp. 381-388. ISSN 1475-5785 http://injuryprevention.bmj.com/content/21/6/381.abstract doi:10.1136/injuryprev-2015-041581 doi:10.1136/injuryprev-2015-041581
spellingShingle Benford, P.
Young, B.
Coupland, C.
Watson, M.
Hindmarch, P.
Hayes, M.
Goodenough, T.
Majsak-Newman, G.
Kendrick, D.
Risk and protective factors for falls on one level in young children: multicentre case-control study
title Risk and protective factors for falls on one level in young children: multicentre case-control study
title_full Risk and protective factors for falls on one level in young children: multicentre case-control study
title_fullStr Risk and protective factors for falls on one level in young children: multicentre case-control study
title_full_unstemmed Risk and protective factors for falls on one level in young children: multicentre case-control study
title_short Risk and protective factors for falls on one level in young children: multicentre case-control study
title_sort risk and protective factors for falls on one level in young children: multicentre case-control study
url https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/29720/
https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/29720/
https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/29720/