Injury

Kids with ADHD are Injury-Prone

Youngsters with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are more prone to injury, compared with children without attention challenges, according to research presented at the Pediatric Academic Societies' meeting in Baltimore, MD.

Investigators sifted through the medial records of 61,170 youths, ages 3 to 17 years. A total of 7,550 of these children were diagnosed with ADHD. Findings showed that during an 8-year period 0.92% of youngsters without ADHD suffered from an injury requiring hospital care. In contrast, 1.63% of children with ADHD withstood a serious injury. After controlling for age and gender, the researchers concluded that youngsters with ADHD are 77% more likely to suffer a significant trauma.

"Targeted and specific injury prevention strategies for this population might lessen the potential for new injury,"
suggest the study's authors.

Coury DL, Haley K, Hayes JR, Yeates KO, Groner JI.  ADHD and Injury Risk.   Pediatric Academic Societies - May 1, 2001.



Insufficient Car Seat Knowlege Leads to Injury

Many parents lack knowledge of appropriate child car safety procedures. Only 46% knew that a child weighing 40 to 60 lb should travel in a booster seat, and 59% knew that the State law required child safety seat use for children up to 4 years and weighing up to 40 lb.

Vaca F, Anderson CL, Agran P, Winn D, Cheng G   Child safety seat knowledge among parents utilizing emergency services in a level I trauma center in Southern California   Pediatrics 2002 (Nov);   110 (5):   e61



Falls: Leading Cause of Childhood Injury

The American Academy of Pediatrics' Committee on Injury and Poison Prevention has issued a research-based policy statement highlighting falls as the number one cause of childhood injuries. Because all of these injuries are preventable, the report urges health-care providers to work with parents and community leaders to implement preventive strategies, many of which are
outlined in the review.

American Academy of Pediatrics: Committee on Injury and Poison Prevention.  Falls From Heights: Windows, Roofs, and Balconies   Pediatrics 2001;  107 (5):  1188-1191



Watch out for Mild Head Trauma

Mild head traumas, like those suffered in motor vehicle collisions and sports injuries, are often more serious than many doctors realize, say researchers.

Investigators examined positron emission tomography (PET) scans of 42 subjects who had withstood mild head trauma during the past month. In total, 84% of participants showed reduced brain glucose uptake, an indicator of brain damage. In addition, 61% of patients had Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) scores in the comatose range.

Bergsneider M, Hovda DA, Lee SM, Kelley Dl, et. al.   Dissociation of cerebral glucose metabolism and level of consciousness during the period of metabolic depression following human traumatic brain injury   J Neurotrauma 2000 (May);   17 (5):   389-401



Biomechanical Training Wards off Knee Injury

Female high school athletes are 5 times more likely than males to suffer a debilitating knee injury - and female college athletes have 4-fold the risk of knee injury than males. The majority of these injuries occur during jumping and involve the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL), the medial collateral ligament (MCL), or both ligaments. Fortunately, knee trauma may be prevented, said researchers at the 24th Annual Meeting of the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine in Vancouver, British Columbia.

A total of 1,263 athletes took part in the study. Of these, 366 participated in a pre-season strength training program aimed at improving jumping biomechanics. Specifically, the program taught subjects to jump straight up and down while maintaining proper spinal alignment, and to land on bent knees. 

Female athletes who took part in the program were 42.8% less likely to sustain a knee injury, compared with male controls and female athletes who did not participate in the training.

Hewett TE, Riccobene JV, Lindenfeld TN, Noyes FR   Jump training program may stem rising tide of knee injuries among female athletes.   American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine, 24th Annual Meeting - June 30, 1999.



Rear-End MVA's Have Long Term Effect on Well Being

People who are involved in rear-end motor vehicle accidents (MVA's) have an elevated risk of several ailments, compared with individuals who have not been involved in rear-end MVA's.  Researchers in Sweden pooled data on 436 drivers who were in rear-end MVA's during 1987 or 1988. Of these subjects, 232 suffered a whiplash injury and 204 were not injured. A control group was also established, comprised of 3,688 individuals who had not been in an MVA. All subjects were aged 18 to 65 years.

After seven years, subjects completed a health questionnaire. Findings showed that people who had been in MVA's were up to 3.7 times more likely to suffer from back pain, headache, fatigue, sleep disturbances and ill health, compared with those who were not in MVA's. Curiously, no difference in risk was found among MVA subjects who had suffered a whiplash injury and those who had not. "We conclude that rear-end collisions resulting in reported whiplash injuries seem to have a substantial impact on health complaints, even a long time after the collision," conclude the study's authors.

Berglund A, Alfredsson L, Jensen I, Cassidy JD, Nygren A   The association between exposure to a rear-end collision and future health complaints   J Clin Epidemiol 2001 (Aug);   54 (8):   851-856



Rear-End MVA's Have Long Term Impact on Neck and Shoulder Pain

Neck pain is the most frequently reported feature in connection with whiplash injury, but it is also a common complaint in the general population. To determine whether exposure to a rear-end collision, without or with whiplash injury, is associated with future neck or shoulder pain, a cohort study was conducted. Claim reports were collected from the period November 1987 to April 1988. Drivers exposed to a rear-end collision were divided into two subgroups, without reported whiplash injury (n = 204) and with reported whiplash injury (n = 232).

A questionnaire concerning neck or shoulder pain and other subjective health complaints was mailed to all the study subjects at follow-up in 1994, 7 years after the rear-end collision. In drivers with reported whiplash injury, the risk of neck or shoulder pain 7 years after the collision was increased nearly three-fold compared with that in unexposed subjects.

Berglund A, Alfredsson L, Cassidy JD, Jensen I, Nygren A   The association between exposure to a rear-end collision and future neck or shoulder pain: a cohort study   J Clin Epidemiol 2000 (Nov);   53 (11):   1089-1094