Background: Child pedestrian injuries and fatalities due to road traffic accidents remains a public health problem in Australia. This study aims to develop an epidemiological profile of child pedestrian roadside injuries within Greater Western Sydney across five years from 2019 to 2024.
Methods: A retrospective study of pedestrians admitted to the Children’s Hospital at Westmead (CHW) following a road-traffic injury between the 1st January 2019 to the 31st January 2024 was undertaken. Descriptive statistical analysis was used to highlight trends and frequencies in child pedestrian road-traffic injuries. Comparisons across groups of interest such as severe versus non-severe injured patients was conducted using Pearson chi-square and Mann-Whitney U tests.
Results: 288 paediatric pedestrians were included in our final analyses. 65.5% of these patients were male. Children aged 6-16 accounted for 77.9% of all injuries. 72.4% of all incidents occurred on a school day, with 63.1% occurring in the afternoon period between 12:01 and 18:00, with the majority, 72%, during school zone hours. Twenty-eight children (9.7%) were admitted to PICU, within which 96.4% were aged 6-16 years. Injury severity scores were significantly associated with after school commuter time period, vehicle speed, PICU admission, hospital length of stay, as well as injuries to specific body regions.
Conclusion: Children aged 6-11 and 12-16 are especially vulnerable to road-traffic collisions, primarily in the after-school commuter period of 12:01 and 18:00 within the vicinity of a school zone. Children aged 6-16 accounted for the majority of admissions to PICU. Our study identified these risk factors to consider in developing preventative strategies.