Epidemiological Characteristics of School Playground Injuries

Reports of children’s play-related injuries have remained stagnant according to epidemiology studies of the past 3 decades. This article provides a unique look into the context of playground injuries within an entire school district, demonstrating the prevalence of these injuries. This study reports...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inClinical pediatrics Vol. 63; no. 1; pp. 135 - 145
Main Authors Kennedy, Eric A., Filchner, Drew A., Patterson, Zane D., Olsen, Heather M.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Los Angeles, CA SAGE Publications 01.01.2024
Subjects
Arm Injuries - epidemiology
Child
Humans
Neck Injuries
Parks, Recreational
Play and Playthings
Schools
Wounds and Injuries
playground
injury
emergency department
school
pediatric
child
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Summary:Reports of children’s play-related injuries have remained stagnant according to epidemiology studies of the past 3 decades. This article provides a unique look into the context of playground injuries within an entire school district, demonstrating the prevalence of these injuries. This study reports that playgrounds are the leading location of school injury, comprising one-third of all elementary school injuries. This study found that while head/neck injuries were the most commonly injured body region within the playground environment, the proportion of head/neck injuries decreased with age, whereas the proportion of extremity injuries increased with age. At least 1 upper extremity injury required outside medical attention for every 4 that were treated on-site, making upper extremity injuries roughly twice as likely to require outside medical attention as injuries to other body regions. The data in this study are useful for interpreting injury patterns in the context and evaluation of existing safety standards for playgrounds.
ISSN:0009-9228
1938-2707
DOI:10.1177/00099228231172482