Abstract
BackgroundFurniture and television tip-over injuries are an important source of injury to children, especially those younger than 6 years old. A current epidemiologic evaluation of tip-over injuries is needed, especially considering changes in the voluntary safety standard for clothing storage units (CSUs) and the shift in the consumer market from cathode ray tube to flat-screen televisions (TVs), and a decline in household TV ownership during recent years. The objective of this study is to update our understanding of the epidemiologic characteristics and trends of furniture (especially CSU) and TV tip-over injuries treated in United States emergency departments among children < 18 years old.MethodsThis study retrospectively analyzed data from the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System from 1990 to 2019. Trends in population-based rates were evaluated with regression techniques. All numbers of cases are expressed as national estimates.ResultsAn estimated 560,203 children < 18 years old were treated in United States emergency departments for furniture or TV tip-over injuries during the 30-year study period, averaging 18,673 children annually. CSUs were involved in 17.2% (n = 96,321) of tip-overs, and TVs accounted for 41.1% (n = 230,325), which included 16,904 tip-overs (3.0%) that involved both a CSU and TV. The rate of furniture and TV tip-over injuries among children < 18 years old increased by 53.8% (p < 0.0001) from 1990 to 2010, and then decreased by 56.8% (p < 0.0001) from 2010 to 2019. Almost half (47.0%) of injuries occurred to the head/neck; 3.4% of children were admitted to the hospital. Children < 6 years old accounted for 69.9% of furniture and TV tip-over injuries overall; they accounted for 82.5% of CSU-related and 74.7% of TV-related tip-over injuries.ConclusionsDespite the decline in tip-over injuries since 2010, more should be done to prevent these injuries, especially among children < 6 years old, because the number of injuries remains high, outcomes can be life-threatening, and effective prevention strategies are known. Safety education, warning labels, and promotion and use of tip restraint devices, while important, are not a substitute for strengthening and enforcing the stability requirements for CSUs and TVs.
Highlights
Furniture and television tip-over injuries are an important source of injury to children, especially those younger than 6 years old
The objective of this study is to update our understanding of the epidemiologic characteristics and trends of furniture and TV tip-over injuries among children < 18 years old treated in United States (US) Emergency Department (ED), with an emphasis on children < 6 years old
National estimates of ED visits for treatment of injuries associated with consumer products and sports and recreational activities can be calculated from cases reported via the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS) by applying weights provided by the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), including weights to account for the change in sample design in 1997 (Schroeder & Ault, 2001; Schroeder, 2021; Marker et al, 1999)
Summary
Furniture and television tip-over injuries are an important source of injury to children, especially those younger than 6 years old. The objective of this study is to update our understanding of the epidemiologic characteristics and trends of furniture (especially CSU) and TV tip-over injuries treated in United States emergency departments among children < 18 years old. According to the United States (US) Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), there were an estimated 25, 500 individuals treated annually, on average, in US hospital emergency departments (EDs) for an injury associated with a tip-over of furniture, televisions (TVs), or appliances from 2017 to 2019 (Suchy, 2021). Children are at increased risk of tip-over injury, with most injuries and fatal incidents involving children < 6 years old (Suchy, 2021; Anonymous, 2018; Murray et al, 2009). TVs are frequently involved in tip-over injuries, with an average of > 6200 children < 5 years old treated annually in US EDs with these injuries from 1990 to 2011 (De Roo et al, 2013). Traumatic brain injury has been commonly reported among nonfatal and fatal pediatric tip-overs (Suchy, 2021; Murray et al, 2009; Gottesman et al, 2009; De Roo et al, 2013; Yahya et al, 2005; Rutkoski et al, 2011; Lichenstein et al, 2015; Sikron et al, 2006; Bernard et al, 1998)
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