Nearly 100,000 kids hurt in stair injuries each year

According to a recent study published in the journal Pediatrics, a child under the age of 5 is treated in a U.S. emergency room for a stair-related injury every six minutes.

The study reportedly found that more than 93,000 children were hurt on stairs every year between 1999 and 2008, with a total of 932,000 injuries to children under the age of 5 during that decade. Researchers believe that a variety of factors are responsible for the high number of injuries, including faulty stairway design and maintenance and lack of parental education.

In the study, researchers found that about 75 percent of children who were hurt on the stairs suffered head and neck injuries. About one-third of the total injuries were to the soft tissue, one-fourth were cuts, and one-fifth were closed-head injuries. The remaining harm was in the form of dislocations, fractures and similar injuries.

In sum, about 3 percent of the children injured on the stairs required hospitalization. The number of stair-related fatalities is unknown.

The majority of the stair injuries occurred at home, and about 88 percent were the result of simple falls, many of which involved parents. In fact, about one-fourth of injuries to children under the age of 1 occurred when the child was being carried down the stairs by a parent or caregiver. The latter incidents also resulted in a higher rate of hospitalization than other accidents.

According to researcher Dr. Gary Smith, parents need to be aware of the potential risk to their children of carrying them on the stairs. “We live in a multi-tasking world,” he said. “If you have to take your child up or down the stairs, only the child should be in your arms.”

Source: MSNBC, “Hurt on the stairs: A child is treated every 6 minutes in the U.S.,” JoNel Aleccia, Mar. 12, 2012