Epidemiology of squash injuries requiring hospital treatment

Abstract

A review of the literature revealed that data on the actual forces that children can exert on products is practically non-existent. For a number of situations, the loads resulting from actions by adults are known. The ratio between body weight and load may be used for estimating the forces that can be exerted by children. The object of the present study was two-fold

to verify the approach of estimating forces by using the body mass of children;

to fill in some of the blanks where no data is available, even for adults

Four different types of peak forces that children can exert on products were selected for the purpose of this study

standing: a push against a horizontal bar

standing: a tug at the bar

sitting: a push with the hands against the bar when sitting with the back against a support

sitting: a push with the feet against the bar when sitting with the back against a support

A total of 203 children participated, ranging from 4 to 12 years of age The methods and equipment used to measure forces are described in the paper. Forces measured and force ratios calculated for different age groups are presented. Some conclusions are:

children can exert higher forces than anticipated, especially when pushing with the feet;

boys are a bit stronger than girls, especially in the higher age groups;

the correlation between weight and forces was high enough in all cases to use body weight as a force indicator;

the ratio between force and body weight is lower in lower age groups.     

The epidemiology of head injuries in Sweden from 1987 to 2000

The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the variability in the annual head injury incidence rate in Sweden from 1987 to 2000. It was hypothesized that the annual incidence rate would decrease over time due to a variety of primary preventive strategies that have been introduced in Swedish society. We used the Hospital Discharge Register at the National Board for Health and Welfare and head injury codes 800-804, and 850-854 from ICD9 system and S2.0-S2.9, and S6.0-S6.9 codes from ICD-10 system. We evaluated the patterns of age, gender, external cause of injury (E-code), type of injury, length of hospital stay, and trends over time. Head injuries due to transportation collision were reduced over the 14-year period analysis. Falls persisted as the dominant cause of head injury. Overall, men had 2.1 times the incidence of head injury compared to women. There was a decline in younger ages experiencing a head injury over this interval, while the number of head injuries among elderly people increased over time. Concussion was about three times more frequent than fractures. Hematoma and diffuse or focal contusions had a much lower incidence rate than concussion. Concussions and fractures decreased over time. Diffuse or focal injuries showed a steady rate of occurrence over the study interval while hematoma increased. Although length of hospital stay varied widely from zero to more than 50 days, 73.6% of hospital days were confined to two days or less. The incidence rate is stable over this time frame. While head injuries attributable to transportation accidents decreased, falls made up an increasing proportion of head injuries. Since we observed an increase in head injuries among elderly, primary prevention strategies may need to be targeted at this age group, and at preventing falls.     

Jumping children: a review of the literature

Abstract

A review of the literature on forces exerted by jumping people is presented. The actual goal was to collect data on jumping children, but only very limited research has been reported on this age group. Data were found on various jumping techniques as well as various influential factors such as body height, footware, properties of the substrate and the forces exerted in association with the different phases of a jumping movement. This study resulted in an experimental investigation which will be reported separately.     

Injuries in preschool children: the hypothetical protector effect of minor injuries and risk factors for minor and medically attended injuries

This study aimed to investigate the relationship between minor and medically attended injuries and to analyse the influence of child-related factors and family-related factors in injuries of preschool children. Individual interviews were conducted with 335 parents of 1- to 5-year-old children. Parents informed about the child and the family variables and reported the child's history of injuries in the last year. The frequencies of minor injuries and medically attended injuries were not correlated. The risk factors for both kinds of injuries include the number of siblings and the size of the family. Minor injuries were more frequent in older than in younger children. Medically attended injuries were more frequent in boys than in girls. The risk factors that influence minor and medically attended injuries are different, suggesting that the strategies to prevent and reduce injuries need to take that difference into consideration.     

Safety of playgrounds in The Netherlands

Abstract

In this paper the results are presented of a national survey on playground safety in The Netherlands. Thirteen trained inspectors each inspected 51 playgrounds in their own region. In total, 663 playgrounds with 7150 pieces of playground equipment were subjected to an inspection. The following safety criteria were inspected: entanglement, surfacing material, installation and maintenance aspects. The results show that one out of every three pieces of playground equipment fail on one or more criteria. The number of pieces of equipment that fail in playgrounds operated by local authorities or recreational companies is higher than that in playgrounds operated by voluntary associations. The smaller the playground the higher the number of failures per piece of equipment

The time has come for experts to provide the operators with information which will improve the safety level. More funding should be provided for the local authorities to prevent the occurrence of accidents.     

Inflatable rescue boat-related injuries in Queensland surf lifesavers: the epidemiology - biomechanics interface

The objective was to describe the relationship between epidemiological and biomechanical factors in the causal pathway of inflatable rescue boat (IRB)-related injuries in Australian surf lifesavers; to develop epidemiological and biomechanical methodologies and measurement instruments that identify and measure the risk factors, for use in future epidemiological studies. Epidemiological and biomechanical models of injury causation were combined. Host, agent and environmental factors that influenced total available force for transfer to host were specified. Measurement instruments for each of the specified risk factors were developed. Instruments were piloted in a volunteer sample of surf lifesavers. Participant characteristics were recorded using demographic questionnaires; IRB operating techniques were recorded using a custom-made on-board camera (Grand RF-Guard) and images of operating techniques were coded by two independent observers. Ground reaction forces transmitted to the host through the lifesaver's feet at the time of wave impact were measured using a custom-built piezoelectric force platform. The demographic questionnaire was found practical; the on-board camera functioned successfully within the target environment. Agreement between independent coders of IRB operating technique images was significant (p < 0.001) with Kappa values ranging from 0.5 to 0.7. Biomechanical instruments performed successfully in the target environment. Peak biomechanical forces were 415.6N (left foot) and 252.9N (right foot). This study defines the relationship between epidemiological and biomechanical factors in modifying the risk of IRB-related injury in a population of surf lifesavers. Preliminary feasibility of combining epidemiological and biomechanical information has been demonstrated. Further testing of the proposed model and measurement instruments is required.     

Incidence and characteristics of unintentional injuries among children in a resource limited setting in Kampala,Uganda

ABSTRACT

Given that little is known about the epidemiology of unintentional injuries in children in low-income countries, this study sought to determine the incidence and characteristics of unintentional injuries among children aged ≤18 years in a slum community in Uganda. From a household survey, the incidence and odds ratios for factors associated with unintentional injury characteristics were calculated. Of 1583 children, 706 had suffered 787 unintentional injuries yielding an annual incidence rate of 497 injuries per 1000 children. Commonest injuries were cuts, bites or open wounds (30.6%) and bruises or superficial injuries (28.6%) with majority (75.5%) occurring at home. Boys were more likely to be injured at school (AOR 4.34; 95% CI 1.22–15.54) and to be injured from falls (AOR 1.41; 95% CI 1.01–1.96). Older children (12–18 years) were more likely to suffer from fractures (AOR 2.37; 95% CI 1.26–4.43), concussions and organ system injuries (AOR 3.58; 95% CI 1.03–12.39) and cuts, bites or open wounds (AOR 2.05; 95% CI 1.21–3.48). Older children were less likely to suffer burns or scalds as compared to the young children (AOR: 0.23; 95% CI 0.11–0.50). Unintentional injury incidence rate was high among children with most occurring in the homes.     

Paediatric head injuries treated in a children's emergency department from Cluj-Napoca,Romania

The aim of the study was to describe paediatric head injuries and identify factors that led to advanced care. Incident cases of head injuries that sought care from December 2008 to October 2010 at Children's Emergency Hospital Cluj-Napoca were evaluated. The main outcome was transfer or admission to advanced care. From a total of 3053 children treated for an injury, 1541 (50.4%) presented with head injury. A total of 960 (62.3%) of the children with a head injury required advanced care treatment. Young children were more likely to suffer a head injury than older children, but a higher proportion of older children required advanced care (70.3%). Children who suffered a head injury as a consequence of road traffic were almost five times more likely to require advanced care (OR: 4.97; 3.09-8.06) than being released. Our results suggest that data on injuries provide evidence-based information on the nature of injuries children are prone to, and what activity, type, and mechanism of injury impact Romanian children.     

The epidemiology of drowning worldwide

The purpose of this analysis was to quantify the magnitude of death and disability from drowning and near-drowning worldwide and to provide epidemiological data on which to base prevention efforts. All data are from the Global Burden of Disease 2000 (Version 1) estimates in which deaths and disabilities are based on the WHO International Classification of Diseases. Extrapolations were made by age, sex, and WHO region. The six WHO regions of the world were further divided into high-income, and low- and middle-income based on the 1998 World Development indicators. According to the GBD 2000 data, an estimated 449,000 people drowned worldwide (7.4 per 100,000 population) and a further 1.3 million Disability Adjusted Life Years (DALYs) were lost as a result of premature death or disability from drowning. 97% of drownings occurred in low- and middle-income countries. Although 38% of drownings occurred in the Western Pacific Region, Africa had the highest drowning mortality rate (13.1 per 100,000 population). Males had higher drowning mortality rates than females for all ages and in all regions. Children under the age of 5 years had the highest drowning mortality rate for both sexes in all of the WHO regions except for Africa, where children aged 5 to 14 years had the highest mortality rate. World-wide, for children under the age of 15 years, drowning accounted for a higher mortality rate than any other cause of injury. Drowning is a significant problem worldwide particularly for children under the age of 15 years. Low- and middle-income countries have the highest rates of drowning and account for more than 90% of such fatalities. Primary prevention efforts should thus be focused on these countries where many children who cannot swim drown in large bodies of water.     

儿时的味道如今的牵挂

老弟才从中国国内回来,背回一大罐“乐口福”,名字似曾相识,红黄相间喜庆打眼的包装,无非也就是超市里常见的饮料,我的“老土”二字还没说出口,就听他喜滋滋地宣称：这可是“麦乳精”,好不容易才找到的,并迫不及待地打开冲泡,让每个人品尝。看着两大勺细细的棕色粉末沉入普通透明杯中,开水冲过时棕色的液体上升腾出一团热气并有可可奶香飘出,     

我国PET软饮料包装产品市场分析

近年来,由于PET包装产品所具有的广泛用途和节约能源、利于环保的特性,在发达国家被越来越广泛地使用。随着包装产业的不断发展和新兴企业的不断崛起,同行业竞争日益激烈,企业赢利空间缩小,经营效益不容乐观。本文在深入调查的基础上,对国内外行业环境进行了剖析,指出PET包装产品的行业经济特点,并分析了市场状况,包括市场的需求特性、购买者决策特征和本行业的工业购买者特征等。在此基础上,根据波特的竞争理论分析了行业的五种竞争力,希望对行业内的中国企业做出一定的借鉴和参考。     

浅谈游泳的好处及教学中常见问题答疑和建议

本文简要论述游泳的好处及教学中常见问题并提出解决建议.     

The real estate effects of e-commerce for supermarkets in the Netherlands

Internet sales are increasing; that is also true for supermarkets. The situation in the Netherlands is no exception. Currently, the turnover in this part of the retail market is still limited, but it is to be expected that also for supermarkets a substantial part will be sold online in the near future. The most important question in this article is how supermarket real estate will be affected by e-commerce. In interviews we asked real estate and e-commerce managers of eight Dutch supermarket chains about their plans and expectations. Although they did not expect major changes in their real estate portfolios, we have seen supermarkets building various pick-up facilities and dedicated pick centres during 2014. Last year also showed a change in the usual market positions. In the past mainly the market leader, Albert Heijn, had been developing special real estate such as dedicated pick centres and pick-up points, whereas the other supermarkets only made changes in the layout of their stores. Since last year, however, the latter category has definitively been catching up.     

The epidemiology of non-fatal injuries among 11-, 13- and 15-year old youth in 11 countries: findings from the 1998 WHO-HBSC cross national survey

The primary objective was to present a cross-country comparison of injury rates, contexts and consequences. The research design was the analysis of data from the 1998 cross-national Health Behaviour in School-aged Children survey and 52955 schoolchildren from 11 countries, aged 11, 13 and 15 years, completed a self-administrated questionnaire. A total of 41.3% of all children were injured and needed medical treatment in the past 12 months. Injury rates among boys were higher than among girls, 13.3% reported activity loss due to injury and 6.9% reported severe injury consequences. Most injuries occurred at home and at a sport facility, mainly during sport activity. Fighting accounted for 4.1% of injuries. This paper presents the first cross-national comparison of injury rates and patterns by external cause and context. Findings present cross-country similarities in injury distribution by setting and activity. These findings emphasize the importance of the development of global prevention programmes designed to address injuries among youth.     

The impact of new firm formation on regional development in the Netherlands

This paper examines the relationship between new firm formation and regional employment change in The Netherlands. Using a new regional data base for the period 1988–2002, we examine the time lags involved in the relationship. We also investigate whether the relationship differs by sector and by degree of urbanization. We find that the maximum effect of new businesses on regional development is reached after about 6 years. Our results also suggest that the overall employment impact of new-firm start-ups is positive but that the immediate employment effects may be small in The Netherlands. Furthermore, we find that the employment impact of new firms is strongest in manufacturing industries and that the employment impact of new firms is stronger in areas with a higher degree of urbanization.