Background The Elfe Cohort (French Longitudinal Study of Childhood), consisting of more than 18,000 children recruited in 2011 in French maternity hospitals, aims at better understanding child development, particularly in terms of health and social relations. This cohort will describe familial and environmental risk factors of injuries occurring in children, and analyse the long term outcome of casualties and the prognostic factors for the occurrence of sequelae.

Methods The study focused on 15,869 children included in the Elfe Cohort for whom data were collected at birth and at two months of life. Information was available on the child’ socio-cultural context, health, conditions of birth, place of residence, as well as traumatic events in the first two months.

Results During the first two months of life, 73 cases seeking healthcare due to an injury were recorded: 54 consultations and 19 hospitalizations. Head injury was reported in 55 cases. The victims were mostly boys and single children. The socio-demographic characteristics of families were mixed: more precarious and smaller dwellings, parents usually more inactive, mostly French mothers and higher median income. The victims were more likely to sometimes sleep with their parents; they were less often premature (2% vs. 5%); their mothers were less likely to have consumed alcohol during pregnancy (1% vs 4%).

Conclusions These preliminary results will be followed by a detailed description of injuries occurring at 1 year, 2 years of age and beyond, based on the children’s growth. The casualties’ outcome will be analysed and compared to that of the non-injured. The implications depending on the severity will be compared with data from other surveys. Among data sources on injuries in France (medical administrative bases, population surveys, thematic surveys), the Elfe cohort is the only one that can identify the outcome of injured children.