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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
Ilan Schwartz, MD, Department of Pediatrics, Boston Medical Center/Boston University School of Medicine, 91 East Concord Street, 6th floor, Boston, MA 02118, (617)414-5006, Ilan.Schwartz@BMC.org and Glenn Flores, MD, Division of General Pediatrics, Boston Medical Center, 91 E. Concord St., Maternity 419, Boston, MA 02118.
Introduction: Unintentional Injuries (UI) are a leading cause of childhood mortality and morbidity. Latinos are the largest racial/ethnic group of US children, not enough is known about their UI rates and risk factors (RF).
Objective: To identify rates, RF, disparities and research issues for UI among Latino children (LC).
Methods: Systematic review of articles on UI in LC published from 1966-2001, using multiple databases and search terms.
Results: Of 351 articles initially identified, 16 met inclusion criteria and were reviewed. UI hospitalization and death rates are significantly higher among LC vs. non-LC, and among children <1-year-old, LC have twice the incidence of UIs. LC have a 70% higher farm-related fatality rate. For LC, falls is the leading cause of hospitalized and fatal injury, followed by pedestrian injuries. Latino teens have the highest motor-vehicle occupant death rate. RF associated with higher UI rates among LC include poverty, crowding, having parents with limited English and recent US immigrants. LC are 4 times more likely not to use safety restrains. Few studies have evaluated effective interventions for reducing UIs among LC, and no studies were found in which language or cultural factors were considered when addressing injury prevention in LC.
Conclusions: LC have the highest rates of UI morbidity and mortality of any racial/ethnic group of US children, including the highest rates of infant UI, falls, pedestrian deaths, farm fatalities, and teen motor-vehicle occupant deaths, but are significantly less likely to use safety restrains. More studies are needed to determine the most effective methods for reducing UIs and eliminating disparities among LC, especially culturally and linguistically appropriate, community-based interventions.
Learning Objectives:
Keywords: Injury Prevention, Latino
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.