Are we closing the Aboriginal child injury gap? A cohort study

Abstract

Objective: To assess if rates of hospitalised injury in Australian Aboriginal children, and differences in these rates between Aboriginal and non‐Aboriginal children, have changed over time. Methods: We used linked hospital data for New South Wales (NSW), Australia, to construct cohorts of children born in NSW hospitals between 2003–2007 and 2008–2012. We calculated rates of hospitalised injuries per 10,000 person years for Aboriginal and non‐Aboriginal children for both cohorts, and compared these using rate differences and rate ratios. Results: Rates of unintentional injury hospitalisation were similar in Aboriginal children in both cohorts and Aboriginal children had 1.7 times higher rates of unintentional injury hospitalisation compared with non‐Aboriginal children. Rate ratios between Aboriginal and non‐Aboriginal children for leading injury mechanisms, burns, poisonings and transport were similar in both cohorts, with 2.5, 3.0 and 2.4 times higher rates in Aboriginal children in the 2008–2012 cohort, respectively. Conclusions and Implications for public health: Our findings suggest that current injury prevention measures have not been successful in reducing either rates of unintentional injury in Aboriginal children, or injury inequalities between Aboriginal and non‐Aboriginal children. We recommend the implementation of targeted Aboriginal led injury prevention measures.

Determinants of unintentional injuries in preschool age children in high‐income countries: A systematic review

“…Most studies (12/19) included in the review achieved a ‘fair’ quality assessment rating (Campbell et al, 2019; Culasso et al, 2022; Emond et al, 2017; Fujiwara et al, 2010; Gardiner et al, 2015; Henery et al, 2021; Hope et al, 2019; Kato et al, 2017; Moller et al, 2019; Panico et al, 2019; Pearce et al, 2012; Sutcliffe et al, 2012). The seven studies achieving ‘good’ did so because they measured injuries using objective, valid and reliable measures of injury such as ICD codes and read codes (Auger et al, 2022; Baker et al, 2015, 2017; Lee et al, 2019; Nevriana et al, 2020; Orton et al, 2012; Prasad et al, 2018).…”

“…Most of the longitudinal surveys measured unintentional injury by parent self‐report ( n = 10). The remaining studies used ICD codes (Auger et al, 2022; Baker et al, 2017; Henery et al, 2021; Lee et al, 2019; Moller et al, 2019; Nevriana et al, 2020; Orton et al, 2012; Prasad et al, 2018), read codes (Baker et al, 2015, 2017) and OPCS4 codes (Orton et al, 2012; Prasad et al, 2018) to determine the cause of injury. Baker et al (2015) and Orton et al (2012) used the same sample in their analyses, but injury outcomes differed.…”