CHILD DAY-CARE AND HOME INJURIES INVOLVING PLAYGROUND EQUIPMENT

The increasing number of children attending child day care has led to a corresponding concern for their safety in the absence of parental ca re. Previous studies have documented that the majority of injuries occ urring in child day care involve falls, and that the most common consu mer product associated with such falls is playground equipment. This s tudy describes New Zealand children less than 5 years of age admitted to hospital between 1979 and 1988 for injuries associated with playgro und equipment located at home or a child care facility. There were 528 hospitalized home injuries involving playground equipment, and 145 su ch day care injuries. Fractures were the most common injury, and the h ead was the most commonly involved body region. Lower limb injuries we re the most severe. Among the differences between home and day care in juries were the type of equipment involved. Swings were disproportiona tely associated with head injuries.