Unintentional home injuries across the life span: problems and solutions

Annu Rev Public Health. 2015 Mar 18:36:231-53. doi: 10.1146/annurev-publhealth-031914-122722. Epub 2015 Jan 12.

Abstract

Home injuries cause more than 30,000 deaths and 12 million nonfatal injuries annually in the United States. They generate an estimated $222 billion in lifetime costs annually. Despite some data limitations in documenting home as the location of an injury, much progress has been made in identifying effective prevention strategies that reduce injury or mitigate risk behaviors. The current interest in public health in the role of housing in health offers unparalleled opportunities for injury prevention professionals concerned with home injuries. Sharing the science of injury prevention with the wide array of professionals-such as architects, home builders, home visitors, and fire and emergency medical services providers-who create home environments and interact with residents could be a useful approach. A collaborative national effort to reduce the burden of home injuries is needed.

Keywords: burns; falls; fires; poisoning; prescription drug overdose; prevention strategies; safe sleep.

Publication types

  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Accidental Falls / mortality
  • Accidental Falls / prevention & control
  • Accidental Falls / statistics & numerical data
  • Accidents, Home / mortality
  • Accidents, Home / prevention & control
  • Accidents, Home / statistics & numerical data*
  • Adult
  • Aged
  • Child
  • Humans
  • Infant
  • Poisoning / epidemiology
  • Poisoning / prevention & control
  • Risk Factors
  • Safety
  • United States / epidemiology
  • Wounds and Injuries / epidemiology*
  • Wounds and Injuries / etiology
  • Wounds and Injuries / mortality
  • Wounds and Injuries / prevention & control