Severe traffic injuries to children, Trent, 1992-7: time trend analysis
BMJ 2003; 327 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.327.7415.593 (Published 11 September 2003) Cite this as: BMJ 2003;327:593
- Carol Coupland, senior lecturer in medical statistics (carol.coupland@nottingham.ac.uk)1,
- Julia Hippisley-Cox, senior lecturer in general practice1,
- Denise Kendrick, senior lecturer in general practice1,
- Lindsay Groom, research unit coordinator1,
- Elizabeth Cross, researcher in general practice1,
- Boki Savelyich, researcher in general practice1
- 1Division of Primary Care, University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2RD
- Correspondence to: C Coupland
- Accepted 1 July 2003
Introduction
Unintentional injury is the leading cause of death in children aged 1 to 15, and two thirds of fatal injuries in schoolchildren result from road traffic crashes.1 More than 75% of children fatally or seriously injured in road traffic crashes are pedestrians or cyclists.
Socioeconomic gradients exist in children admitted with pedestrian and pedal cycle injuries,2 but little is known about trends in these gradients over time. We examined trends in admission rates and socioeconomic gradients for traffic injuries in children between 1992 and 1997.
Participants, methods, and results
We considered children aged 0-14 years who were admitted to hospital for pedal cycle, pedestrian, or other transport injuries in the 862 electoral wards in the old Trent NHS Executive Region, United Kingdom, between 1 April 1992 and 31 March 1997.2 …