Health promotion journal of Australia : official journal of Australian Association of Health Promotion Professionals
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Health Promot J Austr · Aug 2007
Comparative StudyFalls from playground equipment: will the new Australian playground safety standard make a difference and how will we tell?
This study describes the trend in incidence of hospitalised falls from playground equipment of children aged 14 years or less in New South Wales (NSW) and considers the potential effectiveness of playground safety standards in reducing the impact of playground-related injuries. ⋯ While severe head injuries have declined between 1992/93 to 2003/04, the increasing trend of upper limb fractures is of concern. Many factors need to be taken into account to assess the effectiveness of playground safety standards. The collection of exposure data is also crucial to be able to calculate the true risk associated with childhood falls from playground equipment.