School injuries. Epidemiology and clinical features of 307 cases registered at hospital during one school year

Abstract

Injuries at school were studied for one school year in 57 primary and three secondary schools (13733 students, aged 7-19 years) at Umea in northern Sweden. The injury rate was 22/1000 student years. There was a wide variation in injury rate between different schools. The boy/girl ratio was 1.1/1. Physical education was the dominating activity at the time of injury for the older students and play in the school yard for the younger. The majority of the students had a minor injury, but 17% had a fracture. The injured students did not seem to have more somatic, psychological or social problems than students in general. Fewer competitive sports and ball games and more adult supervision and organized activities during breaks are suggestions to reduce injuries at school. A hospital-based injury registration system is well fitted for serving as a base for analysing school injuries. © 1991 Informa UK Ltd All rights reserved: reproduction in whole or part not permitted.