[Accident and injuries situations in accidents at school and on the way to and from school].

In the Federal Republic of Germany, where accidents to schoolchildren are covered by the statutory accident insurance, a total of 991,947 accidents of this kind occurred in 1987, 133 of which were fatal. In this study, the accidents and injuries sustained by 1059 schoolboys and schoolgirls who received medical treatment in our clinics are analysed. We are concerned here with 887 accidents actually at school and 172 accidents on the way to or from school. In the case of accidents at school, the proportion of 6-, 7- and 8-year-olds affected was below 3% for each of these age groups. The percentage of children involved in accidents at school increased steeply with increasing age, reaching a peak in girls at 12 years of age, with 15.4%, and in boys at 13 years, with 14.5%. After this, the proportion in each individual age group lay between 10% and 12% up to 17 years of age and decreased to 7% in 19-year-olds. The proportion of accidents among 20- and 21-year-olds was less than 2%. Of the 887 accidents at school, 53% occurred during sports lessons, 28% during break times, 11% in the course of the general coming and going involved in attendance on the school premises, 3% during instruction in academic subjects and 3% during extracurricular activities, e.g. school outings. Each of these accident areas has its typical accident risks, and often its characteristic accident pattern in addition. Furthermore, there are age-specific and sex-specific features. The frequency of injuries to the upper extremities, including the hand, was 11% higher in girls than in boys.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)