MEDICALLY ATTENDED NONFATAL INJURIES AMONG PRESCHOOL-AGE CHILDREN - NATIONAL ESTIMATES

We used data from the 1991 Longitudinal Follow-up to the National Mate rnal and Infant Health Survey to examine cumulative risk of injury amo ng children from birth to three years old and to provide national-leve l cause-specific estimates of medically attended nonfatal injuries for this age group. Almost 25% of the 8,145 children reportedly received care for an injury between birth and three years old. Among the childr en with injuries, 25.4% reportedly had more than one medically attende d injury. Risk of reported injury was higher for boys and upper level socioeconomic groups. Falls were the most frequently reported injury ( 51%), followed by burns (11.7%), striking or cutting injuries (9.8%), poisonings (9.8%), and injuries from devices not intended for the chil d's use (7.9%). Nonfatal injuries for preschool-age children present a pattern strikingly different from that of fatal injuries among this a ge group, and the need for this data is important in targeting prevent ion strategies.