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Brief report
Paediatric window falls and interannual temperature variability in the Seattle metro area
  1. Samuel P Sellers1,
  2. Brian D Johnston2,
  3. Jeremy J Hess1
  1. 1 Center for Health and the Global Environment, Departments of Global Health and Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA
  2. 2 Department of Pediatrics, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA
  1. Correspondence to Dr Samuel P Sellers, Center for Health and the Global Environment, Departments of Global Health and Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98105, USA; sellers1{at}uw.edu

Abstract

We explore whether the timing and burden of paediatric window fall injuries in the Seattle area have changed with higher temperatures and increased air conditioning (AC) prevalence. Using hospital trauma registry records from 2005 to 2017, along with population estimates from the National Center for Health Statistics, we calculate trauma incidence rates from paediatric window falls. Using local temperature data, we explore the relationship between temperature increases over time and the seasonality and rate of incidents. Window falls are a substantial cause of injury among children, with an annual trauma incidence rate among children age 0–8 of 10.4 per 100 000 boys and 5.9 per 100 000 girls in our sample. We find a mildly positive trend in the crude rate of window falls over the study period, increasing further when a population-level adjustment for AC prevalence is included. We do not find evidence of earlier injury timing during the calendar year.

  • fall
  • child
  • ecological study

https://doi.org/10.1136/injuryprev-2018-043110

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    Footnotes

    • Contributors All authors (SS, BJ and JH) were involved in conceptualising the study. JH and BJ were involved in coordinating data transfer to our research study. SS and JH conducted the data analyses and all authors interpreted the results. SS drafted the manuscript and all authors were involved in reviewing and editing manuscript drafts.

    • Funding The authors have not declared a specific grant for this research from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.

    • Competing interests None declared.

    • Patient consent for publication Not required.

    • Ethics approval Exemption for the study was obtained from the University of Washington Institutional Review Board.

    • Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.

    • Data sharing statement Owing to the sensitive nature of the data, access to the raw data file will be reviewed on request.