An Interdisciplinary Approach to Accident Patterns in Children

A study of the relationship of ninety background, developmental, behavioural and medical factors to childhood accidents.

“…One possible explanation for the disparate findings may be the difference in the methods. The Manheimeri5 investigation was a cross sectional study of [4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18] year olds whereas the present study was a longitudinal study of children during their first five years. This study used psychometrists, doctors, and other trained personnel and standardised tests as well as mothers' reports.…”

“…Those studies that have discussed the problem have focussed on specific types of accidents and examined a limited range of variables such as poisoning^. *^^^^^ A small number of studies have examined all child accidents but, typically, the range of associated variables studied has been limited andlor the number of cases examined sma11.11~12, 13,14 One notable exception to this was the study undertaken by Manheimer and Mellinger. 15 From a population of 8874 boys and girls aged 4 to 18 years, they selected 684 children to represent "high", "intermediate", or "low" accident liability children, based on records of medically attended injuries.…”

The epidemiology of accidents.

“…Frequently, the preventive measure in regard to the agent requires a consideration of the characteristics of the host chiefly involved [26,28]. For example, age influences the particular agents involved in choking or strangulation accidents in children.…”

“…Parent-child relationships, for example, are considered to be of great importance in the development of neurotic needs in a child leading to unusual susceptibility to accidents [4,16]. The examples set by the family and the attitudes of the family undoubtedly play a role in the way children recognize, assess, and behave toward hazardous situations [26,28,56].…”