Premium
Injury risk among children in motor vehicle crashes: Older versus younger drivers
Author(s) -
Bromfield Samantha G,
McGwin Gerald
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
journal of paediatrics and child health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.631
H-Index - 76
eISSN - 1440-1754
pISSN - 1034-4810
DOI - 10.1111/jpc.12645
Subject(s) - medicine , odds ratio , confidence interval , confounding , logistic regression , motor vehicle crash , injury prevention , poison control , demography , odds , occupational safety and health , human factors and ergonomics , association (psychology) , environmental health , psychology , pathology , sociology , psychotherapist
Aim To explore the relationship between injury risk among child occupants involved in motor vehicle collisions according to the age of the vehicle driver. Methods The N ational A utomotive S ampling S ystem C rashworthiness D ata S ystem 2000–2009 ( n = 10 797) was used to identify demographic, vehicle‐, collision‐ and injury‐related characteristics among motor vehicle collision occupants ≤15 years of age. The association between the age of the driver (older vs. younger, defined as individuals <50 years of age vs. individuals ≥50 years of age, respectively) and injury occurrence was estimated using logistic regression adjusting for the potentially confounding effect of occupant, vehicle and collision characteristics. Results Of the child occupants in motor vehicle collisions, 2.9% were driving with an older driver, and approximately 2.9% were injured while driving with a younger driver (odds ratio 1.03; 95% confidence interval 0.55–1.91). After adjusting for child occupant age, gender, restraint use, seat position and vehicle type, there remained no significant association between the age of the driver (older vs. younger) and the risk of injury (odds ratio 0.92; 95% confidence interval 0.49–1.74). Conclusions These findings add to the body of literature indicating no difference in injury risk found among children when considering the age of the driver. Research is needed to ascertain the association and further evaluate characteristics more specific to the relationship being explored in this study.