A Health Surveillance Update on Canadian Children and Youth

AUTHORS:
M. Herbert, MSc
T. Lipskie, BSc
S. Mackenzie, PhD
I.D. Rusen, MD, MSc, FRCPC

Child Injury

Injuries are the leading cause of death among Canadian children and youth less than 20 years old. Of all deaths in this age group, 30.5% are attributable to injuries. However, infants, who account for 48.9% of all deaths among 0-19 year olds, account for only 3.4% of all injury-related deaths. Exclusion of infants from this calculation results in a proportion of deaths due to injuries of 57.6% in the 1-19 year age group. The mortality data describe only one aspect of the impact of injuries among young Canadians. For every injury-related death, there are 40 hospitalizations and an estimated 670 emergency room visits for treatment of injuries. The first three indicators selected to demonstrate the importance of injuries to the well-being of children and youth in Canada are injury mortality rate, motor vehicle crash mortality rate and suicide rate. Injury mortality rate is a general injury indicator that reveals some consistent and important patterns in injury-related death. Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of injury death in children older than one year of age, but the rate has been decreasing over the past two decades. Suicide is the second leading cause of death in adolescents after motor vehicle crashes. In contrast to motor vehicle crashes, the mortality rate for suicide has not decreased over the last 15 years. Finally, surveillance of injuries due to infant walkers provides information on the risk associated with a consumer product and demonstrates the unique role of a hospital-based injury surveillance system. Together, these indicators illustrate the impact of injury-related morbidity and mortality on the health of Canadian children and youth.

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