SOCIOECONOMIC-STATUS AND ADOLESCENT INJURIES

Injuries are the major cause of morbidity among children and adolescen ts in developed countries, but there is a lack of consensus on the rel ationship between socioeconomic status and risk of injuries. A self-co mplete questionnaire survey, to gather information on non-fatal injuri es and sociodemographic details, was administered in schools during Ap ril-June 1994 to a national sample of 4710 Scottish adolescents aged 1 1, 13 and 15 years. Although there was no evidence of a socioeconomic gradient in the total incidence of medically attended injuries among a dolescents, based on the Registrar General's classifications of patern al occupation and a composite measure of family affluence, marked soci oeconomic variation in the circumstances in which injuries occurred wa s observed. There were also socioeconomic differences in the extent an d type of risk behaviours reported by adolescents, indicating differen tial rates of risk exposure. The finding that socioeconomic status aff ects the kinds of injury events adolescents experience and levels of r isk behaviour has implications for the design of injury prevention str ategies. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.