Window Falls Remain a Childhood Hazard
By TARA PARKER-POPE
Laura Yurs
Nearly 100,000 children, most of them under the age of 5, have been injured after falling from a window during the past two decades in the United States, new research shows.
Surprisingly, the risk of being injured after falling from a window wasn’t limited to children who live in high-rise apartment buildings. Falls from first- or second-floor windows accounted for 94 percent of the falls, according to data published Monday in the medical journal Pediatrics.
Although many cities, including New York, require protective guards to be placed on apartment windows, most owners of houses don’t take such precautions.
“This is actually a common injury,’’ said Dr. Gary A. Smith, senior author of the study and director of the Center for Injury Research and Policy at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio. “I just don’t think it’s on the radar screen of many parents. Not only are these injuries severe, but we know they are preventable.”
The findings are based on data collected from 6,100 hospital emergency rooms over a 19-year period ending in 2008. On average, nearly 5,200 children a year — about 14 a day — are admitted to hospital emergency rooms after falling from windows. Dr. Smith noted that the data collected for the study understate the real toll of window falls because they reflect only children injured and treated in emergency departments. Children who are seen by family doctors and those who die at the scene are not counted in the emergency room data, he said.
Risk for falling out a window peaks between the ages of 1 and 2. About two-thirds of the window falls involved children under 5.
“That’s the age group that are exploring,’’ said Dr. Smith. “They see the open window and don’t see the danger, and out they go.’’
About 60 percent of the falls involved boys. One out of every four children involved in a window fall treated in an emergency department required admission to the hospital. Half the injuries were to the head and face.
“A typical admission rate for young children in the emergency department is about 5 percent; this is five times higher,’’ noted Dr. Smith. “These injuries are commonly severe and can lead to a lifetime of disability.”
Dr. Smith said the data should prompt parents to look anew at the windows in their homes — even those on the first floor — and take precautions to make sure children can’t fall out of them. One of the biggest mistakes parents make is to assume that a window with a screen is adequate to prevent a child from falling. In the study, 83 percent of the falls were from windows with screens.
“Screens just pop right out, and that’s not enough to keep a child in,’’ said Dr. Smith.
Homes with small children or those who have friends or family members with small children who might visit should equip windows with window guards. Parents should also move furniture away from window areas. In the study, many children climbed on furniture to gain access to a window, Dr. Smith said.
To see a fact sheet and video developed to inform parents about window falls, go to the Center for Injury Research and Policy Web site at Nationwide Children’s Hospital.
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