Citation

Xiang H, Stallones L, Chen G, Hostetler SG, Kelleher K. Am. J. Public Health 2005; 95(11): 1970-1975.

Affiliation

Center for Injury Research and Policy, Columbus Children’s Hospital, 700 Children’s Drive, Columbus, OH 43205. xiangh@pediatrics.ohio-state.edu.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2005, American Public Health Association)

DOI

10.2105/AJPH.2004.057505

PMID

16195515

PMCID

PMC1449470

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: We investigated the risk of nonfatal injury in US children with disabilities. Disability was defined as a long-term reduction in the ability to conduct social role activities, such as school or play, because of a chronic physical or mental condition. METHODS: Among 57 909 children aged 5-17 years who participated in the 2000-2002 National Health Interview Survey, we identified 312 children with vision/hearing disabilities, 711 with mental retardation, 603 with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADD/HD), and 403 with chronic asthma. We compared nonfatal injuries in the past 3 months between children with disabling conditions and those without using injury rates and logistic regression analyses. RESULTS: Compared with children without a disability, a higher percentage of children with disabilities reported nonfatal injuries (4.2% for vision disability, 3.2% for mental retardation, 4.5% for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, and 5.7% for asthma vs 2.5% for healthy children). After we controlled for confounding effects of sociodemographic variables, children with disabilities, with the exception of mental retardation, had a statistically significantly higher injury risk than those without disabling conditions. CONCLUSIONS: Children with a disabling condition from vision/hearing disability, ADD/HD, or chronic asthma had a significantly higher risk for nonfatal injuries compared with children without a disabling condition. These data underscore the need to promote injury control and prevention programs targeting children with disabilities.