If you're a parent who has an active kid, this latest study will hardly come as a surprise: Sports-related injuries such as bruises, scrapes and broken bones accounted for 22 percent of hospital emergency department visits for children ages 5 to 17.
So says the federal Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, which analyzed incidents in 2006. Here are the highlights:
• Boys had three times more visits to treat sports injuries than did girls (147 visits per 10,000 children vs. 50 visits per 10,000 children).
• Teens were five times more likely than children to be treated for sports injuries in emergency departments (154 visits per 10,000 15 to 17 year-olds vs. 30 visits per 10,000 5 to 9 year-olds).
• Some 81 percent of all visits were for bruises, sprains and strains, arm fractures, or cuts and scrapes to the head, neck or chest.
• Only 1.3 percent of visits resulted in hospital admissions, mostly for leg and arm fractures. In nearly 99 percent of visits, the children were treated and released.
Personally, I'd like to see the figures specifically for teenage skateboarders. It's got to be off the charts.
