The impact of fatal pediatric trauma on aboriginal children.

BACKGROUND/PURPOSE: Injuries are the leading cause of death in young people. Our aim is to examine the differences between aboriginal and non-aboriginal pediatric trauma mortality as a means to focus on prevention strategies.

METHODS: The records for all traumatic pediatric (0-18 years) deaths between 1996 and 2010 were reviewed from the regional Medical Examiner's office.

RESULTS: The majority of the total 932 pediatric deaths were the result of non-intentional injuries (640) followed by suicide (195), homicide (65), child abuse (15), and undetermined (17). Despite being only 3.3% of the provincial population, Aboriginals represented 30.9% of pediatric trauma fatalities. Aboriginal fatalities occurred most commonly in the home, with males and females equally affected. Road related events were the main causes of injury overall. Up to three-quarters of Aboriginal children who died in a non-pedestrian road related event did not wear an indicated protective device. Pedestrian deaths were over-represented in Aboriginal children. The second most common cause of death was suicide for both non-Aboriginal and Aboriginal children. Almost half of all of the suicides were Aboriginal. Homicide and child abuse had similar proportions for both non-Aboriginal and Aboriginal children.

CONCLUSION: Pediatric Aboriginal injury prevention should be a priority and tailored for Aboriginal communities.