Authors urge a mandatory safety standard for manufacturers and for families to anchor furniture to avoid head/neck injuries
FRIDAY, Aug. 27, 2021 (HealthDay News) — Furniture and television tip-overs remain a common source of injury in young children, according to a study published online Aug. 27 in Injury Epidemiology.
Chang Lu, from The Abigail Wexner Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, and colleagues used data from the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (1990 to 2019) to assess trends in furniture (especially clothing storage units) and television tip-over injuries involving children (younger than 18 years).
The researchers found that 560,203 children were treated in U.S. emergency departments for furniture or television tip-over injuries during the 30-year study period, averaging 18,673 children annually. Clothing storage units were involved in 17.2 percent of tip-overs, while televisions accounted for 41.1 percent. Three percent of tip-overs included both a clothing storage unit and television. There was an increase seen in the rate of furniture and television tip-over injuries of 53.8 percent from 1990 to 2010, followed by a decrease of 56.8 percent from 2010 to 2019. Injuries to the head/neck occurred in nearly half of cases (47.0 percent); 3.4 percent of children were admitted to the hospital. Most tip-over injuries (69.9 percent) occurred in children younger than 6 years old, who also accounted for most injuries (82.5 percent for clothing storage unit and 74.7 percent for television-related tip-over injuries).
“Consumers cannot determine the stability of a piece of furniture by looking at it,” a coauthor said in a statement. “Manufacturers need to comply with adequate safety standards and the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission must enforce compliance.”
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