Door finger jam (entrapment) injury (ages 0-14)

August 2008

Over the two-year period from January 2005 to December 2006, there were 683 admissions to hospital of children aged 0-14 years for door entrapment injury to the finger and hand, an average of 342 per year. There were also a further 1184 cases presenting to an emergency department over the same time period, an average of 592 per year.

Age: Most hospitalisations for finger door-entrapment injury occurred among young children aged 0-4 years (63%), while they were less frequent among those aged 5-9 (27%) or 10-14 years (10%). The pattern was similar for emergency department presentations, most cases were aged 0-4 years (61%), with a lesser proportion aged 5-9 (24%) or 10-14 (15%).

Gender: Overall, males were somewhat more frequently involved, accounting for 52% of admission and 54% of ED presentations. This was the case in the four and under age group, however there were slightly more females than males among the 5-9 year olds for both admissions and presentations. Males were over-represented in admissions among 10-14 year olds, while there was an even split between the sexes for ED presentations in that age group.

Table 1: Door finger-entrapment admissions and presentations by age group and gender

Source: VAED and VEMD, Jan 2005 to Dec 2006

Injury type: For hospital admissions ‘open wound' (44%) was the most common injury type, followed by ‘traumatic amputation' (28%) and ‘fracture' (16%). For emergency presentations the pattern was different. ‘Crushing injury' was most common (29%), followed by open wound' (22%), ‘superficial injury' such as bruises and abrasions (18%) and sprains and strains (10%) [Figure 1].

Length of stay: Two thirds of admissions stayed in hospital for less than one day (66%). A further 31% of admissions were admitted and discharged over one day, while 3% required a stay of two days or longer.

Place of occurrence: For only those admitted cases where a location was recorded (40% of all cases), most occurred in the home (68%), while a smaller number occurred at a school or other public facility (24%). Among presentations the home was also the most common location (69% of all cases) followed by ‘school, daycare and public admin area' (11%) [figure 2]. Injuries at school or daycare were relatively uncommon in the 0-4 age group, and somewhat more common among the older age groups.

Figure 1: Injury type, door finger-entrapment presentations and admissions

Source: VEMD, Jan 2005 to Dec 2006
Figure 2: Place of occurrence for door finger-entrapment ED presentations (n=1184)

Prevention: Many finger jam incidents involve a second person, often another child, opening a door while a child is touching it. The most severe jam injuries tend to involve the hinge side of the door. Consumer products are available that can be fitted to the hinge side of a door that prevent children from putting their fingers in the gap.

Further information: For further information on finger jam injuries among young children and how to prevent them access ‘Hazard' volume 32 [811KB]

Data source: Victorian Emergency Minimum Dataset (VEMD) Jan 2005 to Dec 2006 (2 years) and Victorian Admitted Episodes Dataset (VAED) Jan 2005 to Dec 2006 (2 years)

Search Strategy: [Presentations]: A search was conducted for the text terms ‘door' in the 250 character ‘Description of Injury Event' field of the VEMD. Narratives were manually checked and irrelevant cases excluded. Cases subsequently admitted to hospital were excluded as they are covered under the VAED. [Admissions]: Cases in the VAED were selected if the activity code was ‘W23.0 Caught, crushed jammed or pinched in or between door'. Re-admissions within 30 days are excluded.