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Stroller-Related Injuries Top 64,000 a Year -
AScribe Newswire CHICAGO, IL -- A five-year study headed by Children's Memorial Hospital emergency medicine specialist Dr. Elizabeth Powell indicates that injuries related to strollers are common, particularly among children in their first year of life, and that proper restraint would prevent most of these injuries. The study is being published in the Nov. 4 issue of Pediatrics. Powell and colleagues reviewed data for children three years and younger from the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System of the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission from 1994 through 1998. They found 64,373 stroller-related injuries. In the majority of cases (76 percent), the baby fell from the stroller. "Most of the injuries involved the head or face, and were contusions, abrasions, lacerations, closed head injuries or extremity fractures," said Powell. According to the study, two percent of children were admitted to the hospital, usually for head trauma. |
Proper restraint would have likely prevented many of the injuries, according to Powell. "It may seem like common sense, but it is useful to know that stroller falls are common, and they can be prevented by proper restraint," she said "As a mother of young children, I know the restraint systems are not always easy to use on every ride. You are in a hurry, you aren't going far, or the straps are behind the seat frame or are twisted. However, it is really important to use restraints each time the stroller is used."
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