Unintentional Window Falls in Children and Adolescents

Flaherty, Michael R.; Raybould, Toby; Savarino, Jeffrey; Yager, Phoebe; Mooney, David P.; Farr, Bethany J.; Giuliano, John S.; Neeman, Eitan; Campbell, Brendan T.; Thaker, Shefali; McKiernan, Christine; Lewis, Dawnette; Epp, Theresa K.; Baertschiger, Reto M.; Jackson, Carl-Christian; Rideout, Leslie; Shah, Aashka; Falank, Carolyne; Ontengco, Julianne; Cairo, Sarah B.; McLoughlin, Robert J.; Aidlen, Jeremy T.; Watson-Smith, Debra; Wills, Hale; Masiakos, Peter T.

doi:10.1016/j.acap.2020.07.008

Cited by 4 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 12 publications

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“…While a majority of these falls are not from windows, nearly 100,000 children were injured in falls from windows over a 20-year period according to an analysis of the emergency department data from the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System 7 . This mechanism of injury predominantly affects children under the age of 6 years old 6 , which is supported by our finding that the median age of children injured in falls from windows was 3 years old. Falls are most commonly from second story windows, although fatal falls are more commonly from higher floors 6 .…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 75%

“…This mechanism of injury predominantly affects children under the age of 6 years old 6 , which is supported by our finding that the median age of children injured in falls from windows was 3 years old. Falls are most commonly from second story windows, although fatal falls are more commonly from higher floors 6 . Head injuries are the most common injury sustained in these falls 7 , which we also found to be true in our cohorts.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 75%

“…Falls have long been the most common mechanism of injury of pediatric trauma patients 6 . While a majority of these falls are not from windows, nearly 100,000 children were injured in falls from windows over a 20-year period according to an analysis of the emergency department data from the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System 7 .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Unintended Consequences of COVID-19 on Pediatric Falls From Windows: A Multicenter Study

Theodorou¹,

Brown²,

Jackson³

et al. 2022

Journal of Surgical Research

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 75%

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 75%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Unintended Consequences of COVID-19 on Pediatric Falls From Windows: A Multicenter Study

Theodorou¹,

Brown²,

Jackson³

et al. 2022

Journal of Surgical Research

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“…Unintentional window falls can be a significant cause of severe paediatric injuries, leading to chronic conditions, incurring high treatment and hospitalisation costs and even resulting to high mortality in children under the age of 16 [ 5 , 8 ]. Importantly, unintentional window falls are preventable injuries and it is therefore imperative that the circumstances leading to and implications of such incidents are thoroughly studied to help prevention [ 3 , 9 , 10 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These programmes even managed to decrease the number of window falls by up to 83% [ 4 ]. Nevertheless, and despite such educational and public awareness campaigns, unintentional falls from windows remain associated with high admissions rates and serious morbidity and mortality and still represents a major public health issue [ 5 ]. According to the British Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA), more than 4000 children under the age of 15 are injured due to falling from windows each year in the UK and approximately 10 children lose their life [ 6 , 7 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Secure windows for child safety: a retrospective study of window falls in children, aiming to raise prevention awareness

et al. 2023

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Purpose The aim of the study is to enhance understanding, raise awareness and inform prevention programmes regarding potential factors that lead to severe paediatric injuries caused by unintentional falls from windows. Methods This is a retrospective review from a major Trauma Centre, covering the majority of North West England and North Wales and included children under the age of 16 that had sustained falls from windows and were hospitalised between April 2015 and June 2020. Results Overall, 825 patients’ records have been reviewed, 39% of which exhibited neurosurgical injuries (322 admissions). The most common cause of injury was falls (42%), out of which 19% was identified as falls from windows which was eventually the core focus of this review (25 patients). The records showed that 72% of the falls were not witnessed by another individual, suggesting that children were being left unattended. Average GCS recorded at presentation was 11.2 and 56% of cases were identified as severe major traumas. With a mean stay of 2.2 days in ICU, 1.6 days in HDU and 6 days in the neurosurgical clinic, average treatment costs per patient were £4,493, £651 and £4,156 respectively. Finally, 52% of patients were identified to require long-term physiotherapy/occupational therapy due to permanent disabilities, 20% long-term antiepileptic treatment for seizures and 44% long-term psychological services input. Conclusion This study presents our experience at a major tertiary trauma centre in the UK over a 5-year period, from a paediatric neurosurgical injuries perspective due to fall from windows. We aim to raise awareness and highlight the importance of establishing prevention programmes which would hopefully decrease the incidence of paediatric window falls.

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Exploring home fall events among infants and toddlers using social media information: an infodemiology study in China

Tian,

Cheng,

Wang

et al. 2024

Inj Prev

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BackgroundPractical interventions of fall prevention are challenging for infants and toddlers. This study aimed to explore specific details of falls that occurred at home for kids 0–3 years old using key information from social media platforms, which provided abundant data sources for fall events.MethodsWe used internet-based search techniques to collect fall events information from 2013 to 2023. The search was restricted and implemented between 1 and 12 April 2023. Online platforms included Baidu, Weibo, WeChat, TikTok, Toutiao and Little Red Book. A qualitative descriptive approach was used to analyse the fall events and major factors, including the fall event time, child age, environmental factors and behavioural characteristics of children and caregivers.ResultsWe identified 1005 fall injury cases among infants and toddlers. Fall mechanisms included falls from household furniture (71.2%), falls from height (21.4%) and falls on the same level (7.4%). Environmental risk factors mainly consisted of not using or installing bed rails incorrectly, a gap between beds, unstable furniture, slippery ground and windows without guardrails. Behavioural factors included caregivers leaving a child alone, lapsed attention, turning around to retrieve something, misusing baby products, inadequately holding the child and falling asleep with children. Child behavioural factors included walking or running while holding an object in hand or mouth and underdeveloped walking skills.ConclusionInterventions for preventing falls should be designed specifically for Chinese families, especially considering family function in the context of Chinese culture. Social media reports could provide rich information for researchers.

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Unintentional Window Falls in Children and Adolescents

Cited by 4 publications

References 12 publications

Unintended Consequences of COVID-19 on Pediatric Falls From Windows: A Multicenter Study

Unintended Consequences of COVID-19 on Pediatric Falls From Windows: A Multicenter Study

Secure windows for child safety: a retrospective study of window falls in children, aiming to raise prevention awareness

Exploring home fall events among infants and toddlers using social media information: an infodemiology study in China

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