Citation

Waldman HB. ASDC J. Dent. Child. 1996; 63(1): 54-59.

Affiliation

Department of General Dentistry, State University of New York at Stony Brook, 11794-8706, USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1996, American Society of Dentistry for Children)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

8655752

Abstract

Details are provided from a series of government and private agency reports on the accidents and related deaths of children and the effectiveness of efforts being made to reduce the incidence of these tragedies. In 1992 there were 83,000 accidental deaths and more than 17 million disabling injuries in the United States costing $399 billion. The death rate was down 10 percent from 1991, and also the lowest recorded in recent years. Included in these statistics are 19 million injured children and 11 thousand dead children. The leading cause of death of children less than ten years of age was an unintentional injury. The author presents details on the accidents and related deaths, as well as the effectiveness of efforts to reduce the incidence of these accidents. From the youngest ages to the teen years, a greater number of males than females are injured and die from accident-related causes. The number of accidental deaths of children, ages five to nine years, almost equalled the number of deaths from natural causes. For children ten to fourteen years old, the number of accidental deaths was one third greater than the number from natural causes. Statistics regarding death and injury from motor vehicles, firearms, consumer products, and poison are presented.

Language: en