Medscape Medical News: Social factors are associated with higher risk of serious injury in kids, UM study finds
For children, living in a rural area, being born to a teen mother, and being part of a family that receives income assistance are three factors associated with an increased risk of traumatic injury requiring hospitalization, a new UM study has found.
Other indicators linked with a higher risk of kids’ serious injury include being in protective care and having a parent involved in the justice system, the research revealed. The findings were published in JAMA Network Open.
Dr. Rae Spiwak, assistant professor of surgery in UM’s Max Rady College of Medicine, led the study. Her team analyzed anonymized social and health records stored in the population data repository at UM’s Manitoba Centre for Health Policy.
The researchers examined the association between social determinants of child health and traumatic injury among children aged 17 years or younger who were hospitalized with physical injuries between 2002 and 2019. Nearly 10,000 hospitalized cases were compared with more than 49,000 uninjured control cases.
Health-care workers in hospital and outpatient settings should receive trauma-informed care training that includes the social determinants of child health, Spiwak said.
Knowledge of the social determinants can also be used to guide injury prevention efforts, the study team said.