Children younger than five years account for over half of bath- and shower-related injuries

According to a recent study conducted by the Centre for Injury Research and Policy of The Research Institute at Nationwide Children's Hospital, more than 43 000 children 18 years and younger in the United States are treated in hospital emergency departments annually for injuries occurring in a bath or shower. The number of injuries remained consistently high over the 18-year study period from 1990-2007, suggesting that prevention efforts need to be increased.

Data from the study, published in the online issue of Pediatrics, show that children younger than 5 years accounted for more than half of all injuries. The most common diagnosis was a laceration (60%), with the face being the most frequently injured body region (48%), followed by the head and neck (15%).

Supervise your children while they're in the bath

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that young children be supervised at all times while in the bath and shower. However, supervision alone will not prevent all bath- and shower-related injuries, especially slips and falls. "Environmental changes, such as making surfaces more slip-resistant, are the best methods to prevent bath- and shower-related injuries," said study co-author Gary Smith, MD, DrPH, director of the Centre for Injury Research and Policy and faculty member of The Ohio State University College of Medicine.

Recommendations for bath and shower safety include handholds to reduce slipping and falling, elimination of sharp edges in the bath and shower, and shatterproof enclosures to prevent lacerations. In addition, the bath and shower surface coefficient of friction (COF), which predicts the likelihood of a slip, needs to be re-examined. "Evaluation and strengthening of the current COF standard is key to preventing injuries associated with slips and falls in baths and showers," suggested Dr. Smith.

You must protect your children

The Centre for Injury Research and Policy is a CDC-funded Injury Control Research Centre (ICRC) and focuses on the investigation and prevention of injuries to children and adolescents.

"Parents can protect their children," said Dr. Ileana Arias, director of CDC's Injury Centre. "Installing grab bars, using non-slip mats and always supervising young children are some ways parents can make their baths and showers safer places."

This is the first published study using nationally representative data to examine bath- and shower-related injuries. Data for this study were collected from the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS), which is operated by the US Consumer Product Safety Commission. The NEISS dataset provides information on consumer product-related and sports and recreation-related injuries treated in hospital emergency departments across the country.

Source: Centre for Injury Research and Policy of The Research Institute at Nationwide Children's Hospital