Injuries in children and adolescents 2021–22

Only 58% of child injuries resulting in hospitalisation had a place of occurrence recorded so these findings should be interpreted with caution. Excluding cases where the place of occurrence was unspecified or unknown (37,000 cases, 42%):

• the most common place of occurrence was the home (45%) where there were
  • 9 in 10 injuries amongst infants aged under one (91%)
  • 3 in 4 amongst children aged 1–4 (74%)
• followed by sports or athletic areas (17%) where there were
  • 1 in 3 injuries amongst children aged 13–15 occurred in sports or athletic areas (32%)
  • 1 in 4 injuries among boys (21%) and 1 in 10 among girls (11%)
• nearly 1 in 4 injuries amongst children aged 5–9 occurred at school (23%).

Injuries in the home

Where the place of occurrence was specified, over half of all injuries leading to hospitalisation for girls occurred in the home (56%), and over a third for boys (38%).

Within the home, children are most likely to be injured in:

• outdoor areas (15%, 3,500 cases)
• indoor living areas (11%, 2,600 cases)
• bedrooms (9%, 2,200).

Children tend to be injured in different parts of the home depending on their age.

1 in 4 injuries in the home was an open wound (26%) and 1 in 5 was for poisoning or toxic effect (20%). For children aged 13–15 and 16–18, around half of all injuries in the home were for poisoning or toxic effect (48% and 53% respectively).