@article{ref1,
title="Safety/booster seats in pediatric motor vehicle crashes: public health concern",
journal="American journal of emergency medicine",
year="2023",
author="Santos, Jeffrey and Grigorian, Areg and Schellenberg, Morgan and Matsushima, Kazuhide and Nahmias, Jeffry and Barros, Rebecca and Inaba, Kenji",
volume="76",
number="",
pages="180-184",
abstract="INTRODUCTION: The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) guidelines recommend that children ≤12-years-old with height < 145 cm should use safety/booster seats. However, national adherence and clinical outcomes for eligible children involved in motor vehicle collisions (MVCs) are unknown. We hypothesized that children recommended to use safety/booster seats involved in MVCs have a lower rate of serious injuries if a safety/booster seat is used, compared to children without safety/booster seat. <br><br>METHODS: This retrospective cohort study queried the 2017-2019 Trauma Quality Improvement Program database for patients ≤12-years-old and <145 cm (recommendation for use of safety/booster seat per American Academy of Pediatrics) presenting after MVC. Serious injury was defined by abbreviated injury scale grade ≥3 for any body-region. High-risk MVC was defined by authors in conjunction with definitions provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American College of Surgeons Committee on Trauma. <br><br>RESULTS: From 8259 cases, 41% used a safety/booster seat. There was no difference in overall rate of serious traumatic injuries or mortality (both p > 0.05) between the safety/booster seat and no safety/booster seat groups. In a subset analysis of high-risk MVCs, the overall use of safety/booster seats was 56%. The rate of serious traumatic injury (53.6% vs. 62.1%, p = 0.017) and operative intervention (15.8% vs. 21.6%, p = 0.039) was lower in the safety/booster seat group compared to the no safety/booster seat group. <br><br>CONCLUSIONS: Despite AAP guidelines, less than half of recommended children in our study population presenting to a trauma center after MVC used safety/booster seats. Pediatric patients involved in a high-risk MVC suffered more serious injuries and were more likely to require surgical intervention without a safety/booster seat. A public health program to increase adherence to safety/booster seat use within this population appears warranted.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="0735-6757",
doi="10.1016/j.ajem.2023.11.053",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ajem.2023.11.053"
}