Don't Take Down the Monkey Bars: Rapid Systematic Review of Playground-related Injuries

Overview

Journal Can Fam Physician

Specialties General Medicine
Public Health

Date 2019 Mar 15

PMID 30867192

Citations 7

Authors

Nicolas Bergeron

Catherine Bergeron

Luc Lapointe

Dean Kriellaars

Patrice Aubertin

Brandy Tanenbaum

Richard Fleet

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Objective: To synthesize the available evidence on playground-related injuries and to determine the prevalence of these injuries in pediatric populations.

Data Sources: A rapid systematic review was conducted using PubMed, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Library, as well as the gray literature.

Study Selection: The search was limited to studies published between 2012 and 2016 and identified a total of 858 articles, of which 22 met our inclusion criteria: original quantitative studies published in peer-reviewed journals in the past 5 years, concerning unintentional injuries in playgrounds in children aged 0 to 18 years.

Synthesis: Information was collected on study and injury characteristics, and the proportion of pediatric injuries related to playground activity was determined. Studies were performed in various countries and most were retrospective cohort studies. The prevalence of playground-related injury ranged from 2% to 34% (median 10%). Studies varied in the types of injuries investigated, including head injuries, genitourinary injuries, ocular and dental trauma, and various types of fractures. Most injuries were low severity.

Conclusion: Although playgrounds are a common location where pediatric injuries occur, these injuries are relatively low in frequency and severity.

Citing Articles

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The impact of public health lockdown measures during the COVID-19 pandemic on the epidemiology of children's orthopedic injuries requiring operative intervention.

Tarchala M, Bradley C, Grant S, Verma Y, Camp M, Matava C Can J Surg. 2024; 67(1):E49-E57.

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Scoping review of children's and youth's outdoor play publications in Canada.

de Lannoy L, Barbeau K, Seguin N, Tremblay M Health Promot Chronic Dis Prev Can. 2023; 43(1):1-13.

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Paediatric elbow fractures and public play spaces: adherence to standards for children's playground equipment and surfacing.

Smith J, Chhina H, Sidhu P, Brussoni M, Pike I, Cooper A BMJ Paediatr Open. 2021; 5(1):e001125.

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Methodological Challenges in Investigating Supracondylar Fractures of the Humerus From a Child's Viewpoint: Evolution of Study Protocol.

Lim B, Chhina H, Pike I, Brussoni M, Cooper A JMIR Res Protoc. 2020; 9(11):e21816.

PMID: 33136061 PMC: 7669438. DOI: 10.2196/21816.

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