Efforts to reduce the toll of injuries in childhood require expanded research. American Academy of Pediatrics. Committee on Injury and Poison Prevention.
Efforts to control injury, like those to control disease, are based on epidemiologic evidence that most occurrences are both predictable and preventable. Effective injury control programs depend heavily on evidence generated as a result of a strong research agenda. This policy statement outlines the magnitude of the injury toll and the prevention efforts that have expanded during the past decade. Even with this expansion, the level of federal commitment to research aimed at reducing the toll of injury does not match the magnitude of the injury problem. Much research remains to be done, and the AAP recommends a multilevel and multifaceted approach to prevention and treatment, based on injury morbidity and mortality data. As injury control methods of proven efficacy continue to be developed, pediatricians can apply them to their patients, and thereby reduce the toll of childhood injury.