Epidemiology of Childhood Accidents in Two California Counties

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Abstract
Beginning in 1957, reports of accidental injuries of children under 15 years of age were collected from the emergency services of 23 of the 24 non-Federal hospitals of Alameda and Contra Costa Counties, Calif. There were 27,623 case reports in 1957 for an attack rate of 78.2 per 1000. These data plus data from a 2-week survey of accidental injuries treated in physicians'' offices indicated that the total attack rate for medically attended injuries in this age group was approximately 150 per 1000 children for the year. The cases were classed according to type of injury and type of accident. Slightly more than half the injuries were contusions, abrasions, lacerations, sprains, or strains. Fractures accounted for 7 percent; heat injuries, 3 percent; burns, 3 percent; and poisonings, 8 percent. By type of accident, falls constituted the largest category, followed by incidents involving being struck by or striking a hard object, ingestion; and automobile accidents. The over -all risk of accidental injury increased rapidly with age to a peak at 2 years, and decreased slowly thereafter. However, sports and games accidents increased throughout the age span and automobile accidents remained high after reaching a peak in a young age group, These data have been useful in clarifying the relative significance of various kinds of accidents and injuries and in providing information on which to base more intensive studies.

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