Costs and Effectiveness of Strategies to Prevent Unintentional Childhood Injuries

摘要

Injury is the leading cause of death to children after the first few months of life. In 1984, the latest year for which mortality data are available, 7850 children less than 15 years of age died from injury in the U.S. Some 398,000 children less than 15 years old were hospitalized as a result of injury in 1985, including 132,000 with fractures, 64,000 with intracranial injuries exclusive of skull fractures, and 38,000 with lacerations and open wounds. The purpose of the review is to point to a model for injury control and the factors that contribute to success and failure of injury control efforts. The evidence on successful programs suggests that linkage of surveillance of injuries (specification of clusters and causes) with technical strategies for control can result in further acceleration of what is already a substantial success story.