Abstract
Objective
Investigate the epidemiology of lawn mower-related injuries to children in the US.
Methods
A retrospective analysis was conducted of children younger than 18 years of age treated in US emergency departments for a lawn mower-related injury from
1990 through 2014 using data from the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System.
Results
An estimated 212,258 children <18 years of age received emergency treatment for lawn mower-related injuries from 1990
through 2014, equaling an average annual rate of 11.9 injuries per 100,000 US children.
The annual injury rate decreased by 59.9% during the 25-year study period. The leading
diagnosis was a laceration (38.5%) and the most common body region injured was the
hand/finger (30.7%). Struck by (21.2%), cut by (19.9%), and contact with a hot surface
(14.1%) were the leading mechanisms of injury. Patients <5 years old were more likely (RR 7.01; 95% CI: 5.69–8.64) to be injured from contact
with a hot surface than older patients. A projectile was associated with 49.8% of
all injuries among patients injured as bystanders. Patients injured as passengers
or bystanders were more likely (RR 3.77; 95% CI: 2.74–5.19) to be admitted to the
hospital than lawnmower operators.
Conclusions
Lawn mower-related injuries continue to be a cause of serious morbidity among children.
Although the annual injury rate decreased significantly over the study period, the
number of injuries is still substantial, indicating the need for additional prevention
efforts. In addition to educational approaches, opportunities exist for improvements
in mower design and lawn mower safety standards.
Abbreviations:
ANSI (American National Standards Institute), CI (Confidence Interval), CPSC (United States Consumer Product Safety Commission), ED (Emergency Department), NEISS (National Electronic Injury Surveillance System), NMIR (No-mow-in-reverse), OPEI (Outdoor Power Equipment Institute), RR (Relative risk), US (United States)Keywords
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Article Info
Publication History
Published online: March 13, 2017
Accepted:
March 13,
2017
Received in revised form:
March 8,
2017
Received:
February 20,
2017
Footnotes
☆Address Where Work was Done:
☆Center for Injury Research and Policy, The Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s Hospital; 700 Children's Drive; Columbus, OH 43205.
Identification
Copyright
© 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
