Child injuries in the home

Child injuries are likely to occur in the home and almost all of these incidents are unintentional. This report aims to identify the level and type of injury that occurs to children in the home. Various databases were used to calculate treated injuries in the form of hospital presentations or hospital admissions and deaths relating to incidents that occurred to children in the home environment. Cases were selected based on Victorian residency and children aged 0-14 years. The most common injury type was open wounds or fractures and incidents relating to falls, poisoning,burns and scalds were found to be among the most common cause of injuries. Incidents predominantly involved male children and the rates were highest among 1-2 year olds and decreased with increasing age. The highest proportion of child deaths in the home were for ages 0-4 years and were predominantly dues to fires, burns or scalds. Approximately one-third of admission costs related to the treatment of fractures followed by costs associated with burns and open wounds. The relatively high injury rates among very young children could be due to the high risk of injury to younger children or due to greater exposure from more time spent at home compared to Kindergarten or school aged children.