Citation

Moore R, Ormandy D. Rev. Environ. Health 2004; 19(3-4): 253-270.

Affiliation

Law School, University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7AL, UK.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2004, Walter de Gryuter)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

15742673

Abstract

Injuries and deaths from home accidents are a major public health problem. This paper describes how data on housing characteristics were matched with dwelling-related mortality and injuries data. As no single database provided sufficient accurate data on housing and occupiers, this task involved identifying datasets to create and validate a Housing and Population Database, which was matched with various datasets on injuries and fatalities that are associated with the home. Taking account of both frequency of accidents and severity of outcomes, analyses of the matched data showed the true rank order of type of home accidents. Also investigated was whether one age group was more vulnerable to a particular type of accident and the relation between different types of accidents and the age and type of dwelling. A literature review was carried out to look at the relation between the design and condition of dwelling features and accidents and between human behavior and accidents. The results showed that little work has been done in most areas on the different degrees of the contribution made by human behavior and building conditions. Even though more focused research would be useful, preventative actions could reduce the scale of the problem.