[Descriptive study of fall among children under the age of 15 in the municipality of Londrina (Paraná, Brazil)].

This study aims at analyzing, from the epidemiological point of view, occurrences of falls among children under the age of 15 who live in Londrina, Paraná, and were treated at emergency departments, hospitalized or passed away due to such event in 2001. Data were obtained from registries of general hospitals and from the Mortality Information Nucleus. 2,991 children victims of falls were analyzed, representing an incidence rate of 25.3 per 1000 children. Non-fatal hospitalization rate was 3.9%; one death occurred in an emergency department. The risk of suffering falls was higher among boys, except with children aged less than one year. Most frequently injured by falls were the groups of one year old (coefficient of 46.0 per 1000 children) and of two years old (coefficient of 38.4 per 1000 children). The most affected body region was head/neck (55.2%) and superficial traumatism was the most frequent kind of injury (46.4%). Falls occurred mainly from bed/cradle, furniture/couch, tricycle/skates, staircase/degrees, playground equipment, wall/gate/roof/balcony, hammock, tree and stroller. Findings show a high falls incidence among children and adolescents and contribute to increasing epidemiological knowledge of such events and so grounding the planning of preventive and control measures.