@article{ref1,
title="Paediatric playground and tree-related injuries: hospital admissions in the Midland region of New Zealand",
journal="Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health",
year="2021",
author="Bentley, Maria and Amey, Janet and Smith, Alastair and Christey, Grant",
volume="ePub",
number="ePub",
pages="ePub-ePub",
abstract="AIM: To examine the incidence and outcomes of paediatric playground and tree-related injuries in the Midland region of New Zealand. <br><br>METHODS: A retrospective review of Midland Trauma Registry hospitalisation data between January 2012 and December 2018 was undertaken. Cases included children aged 0-14 years hospitalised for playground and tree-related injuries. Demographic and event information, injury severity and hospital-related outcomes were examined. <br><br>RESULTS: Playground and tree-related hospitalisations (n = 1941) occurred with an age-standardised rate of 144.3/100 000 (confidence interval (CI) 127.3-161.3) and increased 1.4% (CI 1.3-4.2%) annually. The highest incidence was observed in 5-9-year olds (248.8/100 000) with 0-4 and 10-14-year olds at 86.0 and 89.2/100 000, respectively. Injuries most commonly occurred at home, school or pre-school (77.1%), 93.7% were due to falls and, the upper extremity was the most frequently injured body region (69.9%), particularly due to forearm (55.6%) and upper arm (34.7%) fractures. Tree-related incidents comprised 11.6% of all injuries and explained 57.1% of injuries classified as major severity. Fifty-eight percent of children were hospitalised for 1 day and 97.0% for less than 5 days. Estimated hospital costs were NZ$1.2 million annually with a median of NZ$3898 per incident. Injuries classified as minor severity accounted for 86.5% of the total estimated cost. <br><br>CONCLUSION: Children aged 5-9 years' experience high rates of costly hospitalisation for playground and tree-related injuries. Targeted injury prevention initiatives, particularly in the home and school environments, are imperative to reduce the incidence and burden of playground and tree-related injuries to affected children, their families and hospital resources.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="1034-4810",
doi="10.1111/jpc.15609",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/jpc.15609"
}