Windows Falls Serious Child Health Problem, According to Cincinnati Children's Study; Study Supports Mandatory Window Guards
CINCINNATI -- Window guards could have prevented dozens of falls from windows in the Cincinnati area in recent years, according to a new study by researchers at Children's Hospital Medical Center of Cincinnati. The study supports efforts to pass legislation making window guards mandatory.
"Window falls are a persistent but preventable problem," says Kim Stone, M.D., a pediatric resident who conducted the study. "If guards were in place in all windows on the second-floor and above in multi-level dwellings, most of the accidents would not have occurred. Unfortunately, there are no regulations requiring window guards in the city of Cincinnati."
At least 86 children fell from windows in the Cincinnati area between 1991 and 1997, according to Dr. Stone's study, which looked only at children evaluated in Cincinnati Children's emergency department.
Sixty-four of the children who fell from windows lived in the city, and 80 percent were age 4 or younger. Typically, they leaned against a window screen or were climbing on furniture and fell. Four children died from their falls -- all of them city residents.
"Falls from windows account for only 7 percent of all falls from heights among children in Hamilton County, but 80 percent of deaths from falls are due to falls from windows," says Dr. Stone. "Not surprisingly, most of the falls occur in the spring and summer months, and the vast majority of those who fell from windows fell at least 15 feet."
In 1972, the New York City department of health began "Children Can't Fly," a program to combat the high incidence of childhood injury and death due to falls from windows.
The program, which included education and free window guards to families with young children in high-risk areas, drastically reduced death and injury. In 1976, the New York City board of health began requiring that landlords provide window guards in apartments where children 10 and younger live.
"Serious injuries can happen to children in their own homes," says Dr. Stone. "Mandatory window guards are a solution that local government leaders should strongly consider to solve this life-threatening, urban problem."
"This study and others on injuries, lead poisoning and asthma, emphasize the importance of housing conditions as a major determinant of children's health," adds Bruce Lanphear, M.D., M.P.H., a researcher in Cincinnati Children's General and Community Pediatrics Division, who was involved in the study.
Contact Information
Jim Feuer,
jfeuer@chmcc.org
