A school perspective on injury prevention in children

Abstract

Background In the Netherlands annually 39 000 children aged 8–12 years have to be treated medically due to a fall incident. The number of wrist fractures in this age group has increased with 32% over the period 2004–2008. Objective Primary objective is to describe the effectiveness of a school-based programme aimed at the prevention of physical activity (PA) related fall injuries in Dutch primary school children. Design In a prospective randomised control trial 35 primary schools were assigned to the intervention group (n=19) and control group (n=16). Randomisation took place at school level. Setting Physical education classes in school. Participants Children attending PA classes in grades 4, 5 and 6 participated in the study: 1539 in the intervention group and 1920 children in the control group. Intervention A teaching package with exercises. It includes a teacher's manual, teaching aids, a DVD with exercises, an exercise ball and a book on fall techniques. During 8 weeks, children learn exercises from different levels of difficulty. The first four lessons form the base of the program, with one lesson to be taught each week. The second part consists of follow-up lessons, in which the core is extended in difficulty. Main outcome measurements The number of injuries due to fall accidents, knowledge, risk perception, self-efficacy in relation to falling and fall techniques. Results The results will be available in October 2010. First indications show children in the intervention group have less accidents and better knowledge of how to fall safely than children in the control group. There seem to be no differences in risk perception or self-efficacy. Conclusions Although the overall results are not yet available, first indications suggest that the teaching package is effective: the incidence of injuries due to falls is lower in the intervention group than in the control group.

Accidentes en niños asistidos por el Servicio de Emergencias Sanitarias de Castilla y León: epidemiología y análisis cronobiológico de 10933 casos.

“…Si nos referimos a las caídas relacionadas con el juego, el mayor número se produce entre los 5 y los 9 años de edad. En Holanda, cerca de 39.000 niños de 8 a 12 años precisan tratamiento por caídas cada año Por todo ello, las caídas suponen un alto coste tanto social como económico (1,2,31,44,61,67,(77)(78)(79)(80)(81)(82)(83).…”

“…Como comentario de los datos obtenidos, más de la mitad, en concreto el 56%, de los niños que sufrieron una caída eran menores de 2 años, disminuyendo mucho la frecuencia en el resto de edades (Figura 26). Lo mismo se observa en otros estudios, aunque la edad máxima es mayor, en concreto de 5 años, con un aumento en niños de mayor edad, según el tipo de caída (1,2,31,44,61,67,(77)(78)(79)(80)(81)(82)(83). La posible razón de estas discrepancias reside en el análisis, en nuestro caso, de las llamadas por accidente al SES en lugar del total de caídas infantiles.…”