Study findings by type of fall injury examined
| Type of fall injury, first author, year | Outcome | Comparison | Putative risk factors | n (%) | Association(p value) | Magnitude |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AIS, Abbreviated Injury Scale. | ||||||
| *Adjusted OR for type of surface, age, location of the accident, month, number of medical visits for an injury per year, playground’s utilization. | ||||||
| †Adjusted or for playground characteristics (height, surface, g max, equipment type) and density of children in the playground area. | ||||||
| ‡Adjusted or for surface, height, age, sex, mother tongue, number of medical visits for an injury per year and year of data collection. | ||||||
| Population health, Shenassa,7 2004 | Medically attended injuries by ICD codes | Fall injury v no fall injury | Individual level | |||
| Age of child | ||||||
| <1 v 5–6 years | <0.05 | RR 2.13; 95% CI 1.94 to 2.34 | ||||
| 1–2 v 5–6 years | <0.05 | RR 1.11; 95% CI 1.01 to 1.23 | ||||
| 3–4 v 5–6 years | ⩾0.05 | RR 0.97; 95% CI 0.88 to 1.07 | ||||
| Gender (male v female) | <0.05 | RR 1.45; 95% CI 1.35 to 1.55 | ||||
| Community level | ||||||
| Percentage owner-occupied housing | <0.05 | RR 0.94; 95% CI 0.90 to 0.99 | ||||
| Percentage housing built before 1950 | <0.05 | RR 1.10; 95% CI 1.06 to 1.15 | ||||
| Concentrated poverty (low v high, middle) | ⩾0.05 | |||||
| Concentrated poverty in African-American population | ||||||
| Low v high | <0.05 | RR 1.92; 95% CI 1.55 to 2.36 | ||||
| Low v middle | <0.05 | RR 1.43; 95% CI 1.17 to 1.74 | ||||
| Bunk beds, Selbst,8 1990 | Fall injuries related to bunk beds | Injuries (cases) vno injuries (controls) among children using bunk beds | Child characteristics | |||
| Age of child (⩽2 v >2 years) | 25 (37) v 10 (19) | <0.05 | RR 1.45; 95% CI 1.07 to 1.95 | |||
| Race (White v Black) | ⩾0.05 | |||||
| Sex | ⩾0.05 | |||||
| Payment (medical assistance v private insurance) | 30 (47) v 20 (37) | <0.05 | RR 2.64; 95% CI 1.18 to 5.89 | |||
| Age of bed (>5 v ⩽5 years) | 48 (80) v 35 (65) | <0.05 | RR 1.49; 95% CI 0.92 to 2.41 | |||
| Bunk bed environmental characteristics | ||||||
| Made of wood | ⩾0.05 | |||||
| Stacked parallel | ⩾0.05 | |||||
| No ladder | ⩾0.05 | |||||
| Ladder at side of bed | ⩾0.05 | |||||
| No side rails | ⩾0.05 | |||||
| Carpeted floor | 26 (42) v 36 (67) | <0.05 | RR 0.60; 95% CI 0.43 to 0.84 | |||
| Height of falls, Parks9 2004 | Non-intentional head injuries from falls | Low (<1 m) vhigh (>1 m) fall injuries | Low v high fall injuries | |||
| Age (0–3 v 4–6 years) | ⩾0.05 | |||||
| Fracture | ⩾0.05 | |||||
| Intracranial hemorrhage | 7 (18) v 17 (57) | <0.05 | RR 0.41; 95% CI 0.22 to 0.79 | |||
| Extracranial | 6 (16) v 24 (71) | <0.05 | RR 0.24; 95% CI 0.11. 0.49 | |||
| Glasgow Outcome Scale | ⩾0.05 | |||||
| Height of falls, Taratino,10 1999 | Short (<5 feet) vertical in-hospital fall | Significant injury v none or minor injury | Major injury v minor or no injury | |||
| Age of child (0–4 v 5–10 months) | ⩾0.05 | |||||
| Sex (male v female) | ⩾0.05 | |||||
| Race (African-American v Caucasian) | ⩾0.05 | |||||
| Insurance status (commercial v Medicaid) | ⩾0.05 | |||||
| Mechanism (dropped by care taker v rolled or fell from something) | 11 (44) v 23 (16) | <0.05 | RR 3.07; 95% CI 1.54 to 6.15 | |||
| Height of falls, Williams,11 1991 | Witnessed free fall injury requiring hospital admission | Death v mild or severe v no injury | Death v mild or severe v no injury | |||
| Height (⩾10 v <10 feet) | ⩾0.05 | |||||
| Walkers, Fazen,12 1982 | Parent-reported baby walker incident | Injury v no injury | Age of child | ⩾0.05 | ||
| Length of use of walker | ⩾0.05 | |||||
| Walkers, Partington,13 1991 | Head trauma | Fracture v no fracture | Stairway falls (fracture v without fracture) | |||
| Walker related v non-walker related | ⩾0.05 | |||||
| Walkers, Ridenour,14 1999 | Falls down stairs | Walker-aided v natural locomotion | Age at highest risk for fall down the stairs | |||
| Walker-aided locomotion v natural locomotion | 61 (24) v 11 (3) | <0.05 | 8 months v 12 months | |||
| Day care, Kopjar,15 1996 | Medically attended injuries by ICD codes | Day care v home care | (6 months–2 years) | 11(8) v 166 (15) | <0.05 | RR 0.50; 95% CI 0.38 to 0.66 |
| (3–6 years) | ⩾0.05 | RR 0.99; 95% CI 0.73 to 1.33 | ||||
| Day care, Rivara,16 1989 | Medically attended injuries by ICD codes | Day care v home care | Setting (day care v home care) | ⩾0.05 | Setting (daycare v homecare) | |
| Playground and playground equipment, Briss,17 1995 | Fall injuries on a playground | Playground fall (injury v no injury) | Center size (large v small) | Not specified | <0.05 | OR 4.7; 95% CI 2.2 to 10.0 |
| Center fee (high v low) | Not specified | ⩾0.05 | ||||
| Playground surface (optimal v non-optimal) | ⩾0.05 | |||||
| Height of tallest playground equipment (183 v ⩽ 122 cm) | <0.05τ | OR 3.1; 95% CI 1.4 to 6.9 | ||||
| Playground and playground equipment, LaForest,18 2000 | Fall injuries involving playground equipment | Nature of fall injury (fracture or head injury v other) and severity of fall injury (AIS 2–3 v 1) | Nature of injury (fracture or head injury v other)* | |||
| Surface (grass v sand) | <0.05 | OR 1.74; 95% CI 1.21 to 2.52 | ||||
| Type (municipal, school, day care or residential) | ⩾0.05 | |||||
| Equipment type (climber, module, swing, slide or other) | ⩾0.05 | |||||
| Supervision (yes v no) | ⩾0.05 | |||||
| Age of child (5–9 years v 1–4 years) | <0.05 | OR 1.99; 95% CI 1.47 to 2.74 | ||||
| Sex (female v male) | ⩾0.05 | |||||
| Playground use (rarely v frequently) | ⩾0.05 | |||||
| Risk factors by severity of injury (AIS 2–3 v 1)* | ||||||
| Surface (grass v sand) | <0.05 | OR 1.68; 95% CI 1.17 to 2.36 | ||||
| Type (municipal, school, day care or residential) | ⩾0.05 | |||||
| Equipment type (climber, module, swing, slide or other) | ⩾0.05 | |||||
| Supervision (no v yes) | <0.05 | OR 1.39; 95% CI 1.02 to 1.89 | ||||
| Age of child (5–9 v 1–4 years) | <0.05 | OR 1.94; 95% CI 1.43 to 2.63 | ||||
| Sex (male v female) | ⩾0.05 | |||||
| Playground use | ⩾0.05 | |||||
| Playground and playground equipment, Laforest,19 2001 | Fall injuries involving playground equipment | Equipment involving an injury v all play equipment | Equipment† | |||
| Height (>2.0 v <1.5 m) | <0.05 | OR 2.56; 95% CI 1.07 to 6.14 | ||||
| Surface (recommended v non-recommended) | ⩾0.05 | |||||
| g max (> 200 v < 150 g) | <0.05 | OR 3.03; 95% CI 1.45 to 6.35 | ||||
| Severity of injury (severe v minor) | Equipment type (module v climber) | <0.05 | OR 2.17; 95% CI 1.14 to 4.11 | |||
| Risk factors by severity of injury‡ | ||||||
| Age (5–9 v 1–4 years) | ⩾0.05 | |||||
| Sex (male v female) | ⩾0.05 | |||||
| Supervision (yes v no) | ⩾0.05 | |||||
| Playground use | ⩾0.05 | |||||
| Equipment type (swing, climber, module or slide) | ⩾0.05 | |||||
| Surface (non-recommended v recommended) | <0.05 | OR 2.26; 95% CI 1.05 to 4.87 | ||||
| Height (1.5–2.0, >2.0 v <1.5 m) | ⩾0.05 | |||||
| g max (150–199, >200 v <150 g) | ⩾0.05 | |||||
| Playground and playground equipment, Sacks,20,21 1990 | Fall injuries involving playground equipment | Height of climbing equipment (⩾6 v <6 feet) | Height of climbing equipment | ⩾0.05 | Height of climbing equipment (⩾6 v <6 feet) | |