Chapter 1 - For The Safety of Canadian Children And Youth - Public Health Agency of Canada

Chapter 1

Methodological Considerations and Overall Profile of Mortality, Hospitalizations and Emergency Room Visits

HIGHLIGHTS

Among children and youth under 20, injuries are the leading cause of death and account for about 1 hospitalization in 6.

Data from Statistics Canada for 1990-1992 show that:

• almost 1 in 3 deaths and 1 in 6 hospitalizations were injury related;
• the proportion of injuries as a cause of death increased with age: among those aged 10-14 more than 50% of deaths were due to injuries, and for those 15-19 nearly 75% of deaths were due to injuries;
• the proportion of injuries as a cause of hospitalization also increased with age: for age 5-9, 1 in 6 hospitalizations was due to injury, and for ages 10-14 and 15-19 the proportion was 1 in 4;
• boys had higher death and hospitalization rates than girls in all age groups but particularly in 15-19-year-olds, among whom the boys had a mortality rate 3 times higher than the girls;
• the leading cause of injury-related deaths was traffic injuries (46.8%) followed by suicides (17.7%), drownings (8.2%), homicides (5.7%) and fires and burns (5.0%);
• the leading cause of injury-related hospitalizations was falls (25.9%) followed by traffic injuries (17.9%), suicide (6.3%) and unintentional poisonings (4.8%).
  
  

CHIRPP profile, 1993:

• the 15 hospitals participating in CHIRPP reported 88,312 emergency room visits by children and youth under the age of 20 in 1993;
• CHIRPP reported more emergency room visits by boys than girls, and the gap increased gradually with age;
• more than 1 in 5 injuries among children and youth under 20 occurred in and around homes.
  

CHAPTER 1
Methodological Considerations and Overall Profile of Mortality, Hospitalizations and Emergency Room Visits