Shopping trolley-related injury to children

There were 591 shopping trolley-related injuries to Victorian children aged 0-14 years over the six-year period January 2002 to December 2007 recorded on the Victorian Emergency Minimum Dataset (VEMD), an average of 99 emergency department (ED) presentations a year. Frequency : Table 1 shows the annual frequency of cases by age groups and year of presentation. There is a decrease in injuries with increasing age. This is not surprising given that younger children are most likely to be placed inside the trolley during shopping trips. Injury cases also increased over time but the increase between 2004 and 2007 is likely due to 8 additional hospitals contributing data to the VEMD from 2004 and the improvement of narratives.

Table 1: Shopping trolley–related injury ED presentations by age group and year

Source: VEMD, Jan ‘02 - Dec ‘07

Age: The frequency of injury decreased as age increased with 0-4 year olds (87%) most frequently injured.

Gender: Males (55%) were more frequently injured than females (45%).

Cause: The leading cause of shopping trolley-related injury were falls, either out of the trolley, from the end of the trolley, or inside the basket of the trolley, accounting for over two-thirds of injuries (73%), followed by run over/hit/struck injuries (16%) (Figure 1).

Source: VEMD, Jan '02 – Dec ‘07

Nature of injury: Bruises and abrasion, (28%) were the most common injuries, followed by open wound (18%), and intracranial injury (17%).

Body region: Figure 2 shows that the most frequently injured body region among children aged 0-14 years were the head and face, together accounting for 57% of the injuries. The proportion of head and face injury increased to 69% in children under 5. Young children are top heavy and more likely to fall head first.

Source: VEMD, Jan '02 – Dec ‘07

Figure 2: Shopping trolley-related injury ED presentations by body region (n=591)