Chorba T L, Klein T M
Epidemiology Branch, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA 30333.
Pediatrics. 1993 May;91(5):897-901.
To determine whether increased exposure as car occupants could be a major contributor to increases observed in deaths of young children in car crashes.
Crash data from police reports for Maryland, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Washington for various years from 1982 through 1990 were examined to compare annual age mix of injured and uninjured occupants in crashes involving at least two passenger vehicles. Aggregate national data from the Fatal Accident Reporting System were also examined over the same time period and compared to population estimates for children younger than 5 years old to assess temporal trends in number of occupants in this age group who were involved in motor vehicle crashes in which a fatality occurred in fatal crashes and the number of them killed in passenger vehicles.
In regression analyses for each state, the number of car occupants younger than 5 involved in crashes increased during the years studied; their percentage among nondriver occupants involved also increased. At a national level, similar analyses showed increases in the number of occupants younger than 5 involved in crashes in which a fatality occurred.
Despite overall increases in the use of restraint devices (ie, both child safety seats and adult restraints), fatalities among restrained children have increased. Given that exposures to crash environments are increasing, clinicians need be aware of the importance of child restraints as a means of reducing the likelihood of injury.
确定乘车时暴露增加是否可能是幼儿车祸死亡人数增加的主要原因。
研究了1982年至1990年期间马里兰州、密歇根州、宾夕法尼亚州和华盛顿州警方报告中的车祸数据，以比较涉及至少两辆乘用车的车祸中受伤和未受伤驾乘人员的年度年龄构成。还研究了同一时期致命事故报告系统的全国汇总数据，并与5岁以下儿童的人口估计数进行比较，以评估该年龄组中涉及致命车祸的驾乘人员数量以及在乘用车中死亡的人数的时间趋势。
在对每个州的回归分析中，在所研究的年份里，车祸中5岁以下乘车人员的数量有所增加；他们在非驾驶员驾乘人员中的比例也有所增加。在全国范围内，类似分析表明，涉及致命车祸的5岁以下驾乘人员数量有所增加。
尽管约束装置（即儿童安全座椅和成人安全带）的使用总体有所增加，但使用约束装置的儿童中的死亡人数却有所增加。鉴于暴露于车祸环境的情况在增加，临床医生需要意识到儿童约束装置作为减少受伤可能性手段的重要性。
