Injury prevention : journal of the International Society for Child and Adolescent Injury Prevention
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Clinical studies increasingly report brain injury and not pulmonary injury following blast exposures, despite the increased frequency of exposure to explosive devices. The goal of this study was to determine the effect of personal body armour use on the potential for primary blast injury and to determine the risk of brain and pulmonary injury following a blast and its impact on the clinical care of patients with a history of blast exposure. ⋯ These results suggest that ballistic protective body armour vests, especially hard body armour plates, provide substantial chest protection in primary blasts and explain the increased frequency of head injuries, without the presence of pulmonary injuries, in protected subjects reporting a history of blast exposure. These results suggest increased clinical suspicion for mild to severe brain injury is warranted in persons wearing body armour exposed to a blast with or without pulmonary injury.
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Active transportation to school provides a means for youth to incorporate physical activity into their daily routines, and this has obvious benefits for child health. Studies of active transportation have rarely focused on the negative health effects in terms of injury. This cross-sectional study is based on the 2009/10 Canadian Health Behaviour in School-Aged Children survey. ⋯ Multi-level logistic regression was used to examine associations between walking or bicycling to school and related injury. Regular active transportation to school at larger distances (approximately >1.6 km; 1.0 miles) was associated with higher relative odds of active transportation injury (OR: 1.52; 95% CI 1.08 to 2.15), with a suggestion of a dose-response relationship between longer travel distances and injury (p=0.02). Physical activity interventions for youth should encourage participation in active transportation to school, while also recognising the potential for unintentional injury.
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Gun possession by high-risk individuals presents a serious threat to public safety. U.S. federal law establishes minimum criteria for legal purchase and possession of firearms; many states have laws disqualifying additional categories for illegal possession. ⋯ Stricter gun ownership laws would have made firearm possession illegal for many state prison inmates who used a gun to commit a crime. Requiring all gun sales to be subject to a background check would make it more difficult for these offenders to obtain guns.
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Apprentice thoroughbred racing jockeys have a higher fall rate than their more experienced counterparts. The authors describe rates of occurrence and investigate risk factors for falls among less-experienced thoroughbred flat racing jockeys in Australia who commenced their race riding career between August 2002 and July 2009. ⋯ This study identified factors that preferentially contribute to falls by inexperienced jockeys. The authors suggest that consideration be given to restricting apprentice jockeys with little race-riding experience from riding horses that have not yet won a race (maiden) or that have had few previous race starts.
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An International Classification of Diseases code-based case definition for non-fatal abusive head trauma (AHT) in children <5 years of age was developed in March 2008 by an expert panel convened at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). This study presents an application of the CDC recommended operational case definition of AHT to US hospital inpatient data to characterise the AHT hospitalisation rate for children <5 years of age. ⋯ To reduce the burden of AHT in the USA, a preventable public health problem, concerted prevention efforts targeting populations at risk should be implemented. This report demonstrates a model procedure for using the new CDC definition for public health surveillance and research purposes. Such findings can be used to inform parents and providers about AHT (eg, dangers of shaking, strategies for managing infant crying) as well as to monitor better the impact of prevention strategies over time.