A comparison of New York City playground hazards in high- and low-income areas

Objective: To compare playground hazards in high- and low-income neighborho ods. Design: Forty-five playgrounds were randomly selected from the 9 New York C ity community districts that met our study criteria and were divided into h igh-and low-income groups based on comparison to the median of the median i ncomes ($24452 per year) of the 9 districts. Playgrounds are maintained by the City of New York Parks and Recreation Department and were assessed by o ne of us (S.A.S.) using a standardized on-site survey based on the US Consu mer Product Safety Commission's guidelines for public playground safety. Main Outcome Measures: Total hazards per play area were subdivided into 3 c ategories: park design hazards, equipment maintenance hazards, and equipmen t hazards relating to fall injuries. A play area was defined as an individu al set of equipment. Results: Twenty-five (56%) of the parks were located in low-median-income d istricts and contained 98 (53%) of the total play areas. High- and low-inco me playgrounds did not differ significantly in the amount or type of equipm ent, mean fall injury hazards per play area, or mean park design hazards pe r play area. Low-income districts had a significantly higher mean total haz ards per play area (6.1 vs 4.2; P = .02) and mean equipment main tenance-ha zards per play area (2.1 vs 1.0; P = .02). Conclusion: Significantly more hazards per play area were identified in the low-income group compared with the high-income group.