Fall-related attendance and associated hospitalisation of children and adolescents in Hong Kong: a 12-year retrospective study

Lee, J. C.-Y., Tung, K. T.-S., Li, T. M.H., Ho, F. K.-W., Ip, P., Wong, W. H.-S. and Chow, C.-B. (2017) Fall-related attendance and associated hospitalisation of children and adolescents in Hong Kong: a 12-year retrospective study. BMJ Open, 7(2), e013724. (doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2016-013724) (PMID:28174223) (PMCID:PMC5306530)

Abstract

Objectives: The present study aimed to examine the trends and characteristics of fall-related attendance in accident and emergency department (AED) by injury type and the trend in associated average length of stay (LOS) among children and adolescents in Hong Kong. Design: A retrospective approach was adopted. Setting: AED, involving all local public emergency departments from 2001 to 2012. Participants: 63 557 subjects aged 0–19 years with fall injury record were included in the analysis. Primary outcome measures: Fall-related injury number and rates were calculated and reported. Poisson and negative binomial regression models were used to study the trends of injury incidence rate at different body regions. Results: AED fall-related attendance rate increased significantly with an annual percentage change of 4.45 (95% CI 3.43 to 5.47%, p<0.0001). The attendance number of male subjects was persistently higher than female subjects. The standardised rate of fracture injury increased by 1.31% (95% CI 0.56 to 2.05%, p<0.0001) and that of non-fracture injury increased by 9.23% (95% CI 7.07 to 11.43%, p<0.0001) annually. Upper limb was the most frequently fractured location. It included forearm/elbow, shoulder/upper arm and wrist/hand with descending order of frequency. On the contrary, head was the most frequent non-fracture location, followed by forearm/elbow. Conclusions: The rates of fall-related attendance have been increasing and still remain high. There were significant increases in non-fracture injuries. Fractures were most frequently found in the upper extremity of a child while the most common non-fracture location was head. It appears that more efforts should be made and preventive measures should be implemented for children and adolescents in Hong Kong.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Ho, Dr Frederick
• Authors: Lee, J. C.-Y., Tung, K. T.-S., Li, T. M.H., Ho, F. K.-W., Ip, P., Wong, W. H.-S., and Chow, C.-B.
• College/School: College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Health & Wellbeing > Public Health
• Journal Name: BMJ Open
• Publisher: BMJ Publishing Group
• ISSN: 2044-6055
• ISSN (Online): 2044-6055
• Published Online: 07 February 2017
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2017 The Authors
• First Published: First published in BMJ Open 7(2): e013724
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a Creative Commons License