Injury prevention : journal of the International Society for Child and Adolescent Injury Prevention
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To examine the incidence of head injury and symptoms of concussion among children at school and to determine the relationship of age, gender, and cause to incidence rates. ⋯ Overall rate of injury (3.98 per 100 children) was consistent with previous studies using prospective injury reporting systems. Probability of a head injury with symptoms of concussion among schoolchildren was only 1.9% for boys and <1% for girls during the course of their school years. There is ample justification for prevention efforts in schools.
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To describe the epidemiology of non-fatal recreational injuries among older adults treated in United States emergency departments including national estimates of the number of injuries, types of recreational activities, and diagnoses. ⋯ Recreational activities were a frequent cause of injuries among older adults. Fractures were common. Many of these injuries are potentially preventable. As more persons engage in recreational activities, applying known injury prevention strategies will help to reduce the incidence of these injuries.
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Following heightened gun violence in the 1990s, many medical societies in the United States adopted policies on the topic. ⋯ Large medical societies in the United States agree on key approaches for reducing gun injury mortality and morbidity. Future research will be needed to track the evolution of this emerging standard for physician action, which now includes the consensus areas and items. It promises to be, in effect, a medical standard of care for gun injury prevention. The United States experience may be useful to others working on gun injury prevention.
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To identify legitimate defensive gun uses (DGUs), and provide a reality check on previous estimates of the rate of DGUs by using a novel approach based on newspaper reports and police and court records. Previous estimates have relied on self report, differ by a factor of 10 or more, and are viewed as highly controversial. ⋯ These findings cast doubt on rates of DGUs reported in an influential study by Kleck and Gertz, which predict that the police should have known about 98 DGU killings or woundings and 236 DGU firings at adversaries during the time the newspaper was surveyed. The findings reported here were closer to predictions based on the National Crime Victimization Survey, which suggest that the police should have known about eight DGU killings or woundings and 19 DGU firings at adversaries.