Seating position and patterns of severely injured body parts among child passengers in motor vehicle crashes: Japan as a distinct case

ABSTRACT

This study describes injury patterns and outcomes related to the seating position of child passengers involved in motor vehicle crashes in Japan. Using data obtained from a national trauma registry database, we compared the occurrence of injuries by body parts, length of hospital stay and in-hospital deaths between front-seating and rear-seating among children. We analysed 166 children aged 0–5 years and 205 children aged 6–12 years. No significant differences were observed between front- and rear-seating for injured body parts, length of hospital stay or in-hospital deaths in the 0–5-year-old victims. Among those aged 6–12 years, rear-seating was associated with a higher incidence of head and chest injuries but the length of stay or in-hospital deaths did not differ. These findings contrast those of previous studies, which found that rear-seating reduces injury risk, possibly attributed to low age-appropriate restraint use among school-aged children in Japan.

Highlights

• This study describes the patterns of injuries sustained to different body parts based on the seating position of children who were passengers in motor vehicle crashes.

• Among children aged 0–5 years, injury patterns did not differ significantly between front- and rear-seating.

• Among children aged 6–12 years, seating at the rear of the vehicle was associated with a higher incidence of head and chest injuries.

• Compared to our findings, previous studies have found different injury patterns, which may be attributable to low seatbelt use among school-aged children in Japan.

KEYWORDS:

• Motor vehicle crash
• passenger
• children
• seating position
• body parts

Acknowledgment

This study was presented at the 51st Annual Conference of the Japanese Council of Traffic Science in Akita, Japan, 20–21 June 2015.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

Japan Society for the Promotion of Science KAKENHI [grant number 25463499]; Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association – commisioned research.

Notes on contributors

Hiroki Takahashi

Hiroki Takahashi is an emergency physician at Ageo Central Hospital. He was working at Teikyo University Hospital when this study was done. He is engaged in patient transfer via air ambulance.

Takashi Fujita

Takashi Fujita is an acute care surgeon at Trauma and Resuscitation Center in Teikyo University Hospital. He is engaged in trauma quality improvement activities through both on-the-job and off-the-job training. His research interests include injury prevention and trauma outcome studies.

Shinji Nakahara

Shinji Nakahara is a researcher in epidemiology and public health. His interests include injury epidemiology, injury prevention, and healthcare system evaluation in low- and middle-income countries and Japan.

Tetsuya Sakamoto

Tetsuya Sakamoto is the former director of Trauma and Resuscitation Center of Teikyo University Hospital and current hospital director. His research interests include resuscitation of cardiac arrest and improvement of quality of emergency care and trauma care.