Measures to improve pedal-cycle safety and increase helmet use often target school-age children rather than younger children, even though preschool children wearing helmets have fewer injuries and are more likely to wear helmets in the future, compared with children who do not wear helmets. Children aged <6 years also use pedal cycles; whether they are passengers on a parent's bicycle, riding a tricycle or pedal car, or learning to ride a bicycle, these young cyclists often sustain injuries. To provide guidance for intervention strategies targeted to young children in Wisconsin, CDC and the Wisconsin Division of Public Health analyzed data collected from January 1, 2002 through December 31, 2004, from all nonfederal emergency departments (EDs) and hospitals in Wisconsin regarding pedal-cycle injuries among children aged <6 years. This report describes the results of that analysis, which indicated that, during 2002--2004, a total of 2,046 ED visits by Wisconsin residents aged <6 years for pedal-cycle injuries occurred; for 1,305 (63.8%) of these visits, the primary diagnosis was a head or neck injury. These findings underscore the need for interventions designed to reduce head and neck injuries in the youngest users of pedal cycles. (Author/publisher)
Abstract