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Annals of Family Medicine 5:528-533 (2007)
© 2007 Annals of Family Medicine, Inc.
doi: 10.1370/afm.740
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Children With Hearing Loss and Increased Risk of Injury

Joshua R. Mann, MD, MPH1, Li Zhou, MS2, Michael McKee, MD3 and Suzanne McDermott, PhD1

1 University of South Carolina School of Medicine, Department of Family and Preventive Medicine, Family Medicine Center, Columbia, SC
2 University of South Carolina , Arnold School of Public Health, Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Columbia, SC
3 Lifetime Health, Folsom Family Center, Rochester, NY

CORRESPONDING AUTHOR: Joshua R. Mann, MD, MPH, Department of Family and Preventive Medicine, University of South Carolina School of Medicine, 3209 Colonial Dr, Columbia, SC 29203, joshua.mann{at}palmettohealth.org

PURPOSE Few studies have tested the hypothesis that children with sensory disabilities such as deafness may be at increased risk of injuries. To test this hypothesis, this study compared rates of emergency department or hospital treatment for injury among Medicaid-insured South Carolina children with and without a diagnosis of hearing loss.

METHODS Medicaid billing data for 2002–2003 were obtained from the South Carolina Office of Research and Statistics. International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification billing codes were used to identify children with and without hearing loss, and episodes of injury-related emergency department or hospital treatment were compared for the 2 groups.

RESULTS Rates of injury treatment in children with hearing loss were more than twice that of the control group (17.72 vs 8.58 per 100, respectively). The relative rate (RR) remained significantly higher (RR = 1.51, 95% confidence interval, 1.30–1.75) after adjusting for age, race, sex, and the number of hospital or emergency department encounters for treatment of non–injury-related conditions. Children with hearing loss had significantly higher treatment rates for every injury type, bodily location, and external cause, with a cell size sufficient for valid comparison.

CONCLUSIONS Children with hearing loss may be at increased risk of injury. Additional study is needed to determine whether children with hearing loss are at increased risk (as opposed to simply seeking hospital care for injuries more often). If so, targeted injury prevention efforts for these children and their families would be warranted.

Key Words: Hearing impaired persons • hearing loss • wounds and injuries




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TRACK Comments:

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Children with Hearing Loss - do they understand the safety issues?
Wendy L Osterling
Annals of Family Medicine, 29 Nov 2007 [Full text]
Response to Dr. Osterling
Joshua R Mann, et al.
Annals of Family Medicine, 29 Nov 2007 [Full text]
Safety and Injury Research Among Children With Disabilities
Huiyun Xiang
Annals of Family Medicine, 15 Dec 2007 [Full text]
Reply to Dr. Xiang
Joshua R. Mann, et al.
Annals of Family Medicine, 20 Dec 2007 [Full text]
Children/families with hearing loss – more research needed
Steven Barnett
Annals of Family Medicine, 24 Dec 2007 [Full text]

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