December 12th, 2017
Residential injuries are a significant problem, resulting in thousands of deaths and millions of hospital emergency department visits each year. • The National Safety Council (NSC) estimated that in 2003, home-related injury deaths comprised about 33% of all injury-related deaths (or 33,100 deaths), only surpassed in magnitude by motor vehicle related deaths. • Data from the National HospitalAmbulatory Medical Care Survey show that injury of U.S. children in the home is the cause of 4.01 million emergency department visits and more than 70,000 hospitalizations each year. Major causes of unintentional injury in the home include: poisoning, falls, fire and smoke, drowning, suffocation, and firearms. • The most common causes of unintentional injuries and deaths in the home vary for different age groups. • The death rate due to residential injury is highest in children younger than 1 year and among 1 to 4 year olds compared with older children. • The risk of injury has also been shown to vary substantially with race; for example, black children were two times more likely to die from residential injuries than white children, based on 1985-1997 data from the National Death Index. Generally, the linkages between hazards in the home and major housing-related injuries are well established. Measures to control injury in the home may be active (e.g. supervision of a child), or passive (e.g., changing the environment), and may require single or repetitive actions. Modifying the home environment is often more feasible, and is generally considered more effective, than attempting to influence individual behavior. Important components of an injury prevention program include: • Injury surveillance and reporting, • Public and individual education and outreach, • Making safety devices available and encouraging their use and maintenance, • Technological improvements to reduce hazards, and • Legislation and regulation, including enforcement of hazard reduction laws. Education of parents has been shown to be effective on the individual level in a variety of clinical settings such as physicians’ offices, clinics, emergency departments, or hospitals. Home visitation programs may reduce injury risk through initial home hazard inspections, customized interventions and resident education, and follow-up hazard inspections. Methods of assessment of residential injury hazards include home safety questionnaires and home inspections.