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Association between the inception of a SAFE KIDS Coalition and changes in pediatric unintentional injury rates

¹ Division of Critical Care Medicine, St Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Department of Pediatrics, Le Bonheur Children’s Medical Center, and Department of Preventive Medicine, University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, Tennessee
² Department of Preventive Medicine, University of Tennessee Health Science Center and Department of Medical Education, Methodist Healthcare, Memphis, Tennessee
³ Department of Preventive Medicine, University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, Tennessee
⁴ Department of Pediatrics, Le Bonheur Children’s Medical Center, Memphis, Tennessee
⁵ Injury Prevention, Le Bonheur Children’s Medical Center and Mid-South SAFE KIDS Coalition, Memphis, Tennessee

Correspondence to:
Dr Robert F Tamburro, Division of Critical Care Medicine, St Jude Children’s Research Hospital, 332 North Lauderdale, Memphis, TN 38105, USA;
robert.tamburro{at}stjude.org

ABSTRACT
Objective: To assess the relationship between the implementation of a SAFE KIDS Coalition and pediatric unintentional injury rates.

Setting: Shelby County, Tennessee.

Design: Retrospective observational analysis.

Patients: County residents nine years of age or younger presenting to the children’s medical center, its emergency department, or its outpatient clinics from 1990–97.

Intervention: Implementation of a SAFE KIDS Coalition.

Main outcome measures: Rates of unintentional injuries targeted by the SAFE KIDS Coalition that resulted in hospitalization or in death. Rates of motor vehicle occupant injuries that resulted in hospitalization or in death. Rates of non-targeted unintentional injuries, namely injuries secondary to animals and by exposure to toxic plants. Rates of severe injuries (defined as those targeted injuries that required hospitalization or resulted in death), and specifically, severe motor vehicle occupant injuries were compared before and after the inception of the coalition using Poisson regression analysis.

Results: The relative risk of targeted severe injury rates decreased after implementation of the coalition even after controlling for changes in hospital admission rates. Specifically, severe motor vehicle occupant injury rates decreased 30% (relative risk 0.70; 95% confidence interval 0.54 to 0.89) after initiation of the coalition.

Conclusions: The implementation of a SAFE KIDS Coalition was associated with a decrease in severe targeted injuries, most notably, severe motor vehicle occupant injuries. Although causality cannot be determined, these data suggest that the presence of a coalition may be associated with decreased severe unintentional injury rates.

Keywords: SAFE KIDS Campaign; unintentional injury; motor vehicle occupant injury