Analysis of Accidents in Adolescents

Overview

For assessment of the annual incidence of injuries in adolescents 15 to 18 years of age in 1997 the data on injuriestreated by surgeons or physicians were used, as reported in questionnaires for students in grammar schools andtrainees in training centres. The inquiries were made in three Prague districts and forty districts of the CzechRepublic. The total number of respondents was 84 184 adolescents including 38 909 (46.2 %) boys and 45 285(53.8 %) girls. 17.2 % of this total, i.e. 14 462 adolescents suffered an injury. The injury rate was 20.7 % (8042cases) for boys and 14.3 % (6420 cases) for girls. Detailed information about the type of injury, place of accidentand further conditions were obtained from 13 571 injured individuals, i.e. a 93.8 % response rate. The total numberof adolescents who died as a result of an injury was 10 (1 girl and 9 boys), 7 deceased were trainees from trainingcentres.The most frequent type of injury in adolescents were distorsions, dislocations and fractures (60.3 %) followedby injuries of the body surface (23.2 %) and injuries of the head and skull (7.1 %). Next in rank were injuries ofthe mouth, burns, injuries of sense organs, injuries of the abdomen, thorax, poisoning and drowning. The highestnumber of injuries was in autumn. The most frequent place of injury were the school (25.2 %), playground(19.9 %), the street (17.7 %) and the home (16.3 %). Injuries were contracted during organized sports and schoolphysical training (34.2 %), unorganized sports and other recreational activities (14.6 %), work at home (10.0 %)and in school (7.1 %). Followed by bicycle injuries (6.2 %), fights with fellow-pupils or other persons (5.3 %) andtraffic accidents (3.6 %). Long-term consequences of injuries affected 12.7 % injured adolescents.

Key words:
adolescents, accident, injury