Injuries are the leading cause of disability and death amongst Australian children and adolescents. At least 1 / 4 of all emergency department presentations during childhood are injury-related.
Injuries may be unintentional (falls, road crashes, drowning, burns) or intentional (self harm, violence, assault). The type, place and reason behind injury differs by age, developmental stage and sex. Injury also differs by socioeconomic status and place of residence. Injuries are predictable, preventable events, and understanding where and the way they occur is crucial to tell prevention efforts.
A latest report from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, released today, tells us more concerning the injuries Australian children and adolescents sustained within the 12 months from July 2021 to June 2022. It finds:
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children aged 1–4 years are the age group most certainly to present to an emergency department with injuries
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adolescents aged 16–18 years are the age group most certainly to be admitted to hospital for injuries
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boys usually tend to be hospitalised for injuries than girls. This continues into maturity
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girls are five times more more likely to be hospitalised for intentional self-harm injuries than boys
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falls are the leading reason behind childhood injury, accounting for one in three child injury hospitalisations. Falls from playground equipment are probably the most common
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fractures are probably the most common style of childhood injury, especially arm and wrist fractures in children aged 10–12 years.
So injury patterns differ between girls and boys. And causes of injury in children change as they progress through different stages of development.
For children under age one, drowning, burnschoking and suffocation had the very best injury hospital admission rates in comparison with adults.
In early childhood (ages 1-4 years), the very best causes of injury hospitalisation were drowning, burns, choking and suffocation and accidental poisoning.
Road and other transport injuries are probably the most common reason behind injury requiring hospital admission amongst adolescents aged 16–18 years.
What about sports?
Sports and physical activities include risk of injury. But the health advantages far outweigh the risks.
Cycling causes the very best variety of sporting injuries with almost 3,000 injury hospital presentations. Again, lively transport has many advantages for our health and connecting communities. But there remains to be more to be done to make cycling safer.
For the highest 20 sports which can be most certainly to cause injury hospital admissions, fractures are probably the most common style of injury. Soft-tissue injuries, open wounds and head injuries are also common.
However, the info needs to be interpreted with caution, as only around half of all injury hospitalisations amongst children and adolescents had an “activity while injured” specified.
What we do know is that injuries are most certainly to occur at home.
Read more:
Is it broken? A strain or sprain? How to identify a serious injury now school and sport are back
Balancing risk and safety
Injuries may be serious or fatal. Even non-fatal injuries can keep children in hospital for long periods of time and delay their growth and development.
To prevent injuries, we want to balance risk and safety. For children, play is a very important part of learning and expressing various skills, knowledge, and attitudes. Play teaches children to problem-solve, nurtures social and emotional development, improves self-awareness and helps them master their physical abilities.
Embracing risk is a fundamental a part of play in all environments where children play and explore their world. As children transition into adolescence, the character of those risks changes. But with proper guidance and supervision from parents and caregivers, we are able to strike a balance between offering opportunities for risk-taking and ensuring children’s safety from serious harm.
What can governments do to stop injuries?
The Australian government has drafted a brand new National Injury Prevention Strategywhich is predicted to be released later in 2024. This will provide clear guidance for all levels of presidency and others on prevention strategies and investment needed.
In the meantime, higher injury surveillance data is sorely needed to raised discover the reason behind injuries (comparable to family violence, alcohol and other drug misuse, intentional self-harm or consumer product-related injuries), and to discover where injuries took place (home, school, shopping centre, and so forth). There can be insufficient attention paid to priority populations, including people of low socioeconomic status, those in rural and distant areas and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
Better reporting on childhood and adolescent injury trends will higher inform parents, caregivers, teachers and health professionals concerning the risks.
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