STROLLER SAFETY

Objective: To assess the incidence and type of stroller injuries in So uth Australia and factors contributing to their occurrence. Design: Re trospective review of South Australian Health Commission Injury Survei llance data for Adelaide Children's Hospital, Modbury Hospital and Que en Elizabeth Hospital (1986-1992); a prospective survey of 150 strolle r users in three metropolitan shopping malls; and testing of backward tipping using loads determined by the AS/NZS 2088 standard. Results: O ne hundred and forty-nine attendances for unintentional injury resulte d from infants either falling out of strollers and prams, or from entr apment of digits in strollers. Eleven infants (7.4%) required admissio n. One hundred and five injuries (70%) occurred between nine and 15 mo nths of age. Eighty-nine (60%) involved either head/facial/dental inju ries or concussion. The survey showed that only 14 strollers (9%) were used correctly (children appropriately harnessed and no shopping on t he handles). Five strollers tipped over while carrying an 8 kg load wh en a 5 kg weighted shopping bag was placed on their handles. One strol ler tipped over when a weight of 2 kg was applied at the handle on a 1 2-degrees ramp with an 8 kg load. Only 11 of the 23 strollers commerci ally available in Adelaide in October 1992 carried the non-mandatory s troller standard. Conclusion: Stroller accidents are a common source o f injury and usually result from incorrect use. The stroller standard should be made mandatory and revised to include a shoulder harness, lo wer the centre of gravity and provide shopping storage.