A retrospective study of head-injured children admitted to two hospitals in Cape Town.

A retrospective study was undertaken to describe the patterns of head injury in children in the Cape Peninsula. Information was abstracted from Groote Schuur Hospital and Red Cross War Memorial Children's Hospital records for all children aged under 15 years admitted with head injury between July 1966 and June 1981. Data were collected on 1 820 admissions. There were significantly higher percentages of Coloureds and Blacks, males and children aged under 6 years in the sample than in the corresponding population of the Cape Peninsula. In children under 1 year old, fails accounted for approximately 70% of head injuries in all three race groups. In the 1-5-year age group, transport-related injuries were the most common cause of admission in Blacks (63,1%) and Coloureds (46,5%), but in Whites falls were still most common (58,2%). In the 6-14-year age group, transport-related accidents accounted for approximately 64% of head injuries in all three race groups. Pedestrian accidents were the commonest cause of admissions due to transport-related head injury. Severe or very severe concussive injuries, multiple injuries or death occurred more commonly in transport-related injuries than among those caused by falls or assault/abuse. Transport, falls and assault/abuse together accounted for 88,4% of all causes of head injury.