CHIRPP
Canadian Hospitals Injury Reporting and Prevention Program
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INJURIES
ASSOCIATED WITH SNOWBOARDING
FROM BRITISH
COLUMBIA CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL
CHIRPP Database, for the year 2002 in ages 5-17
years
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WHAT IS CHIRPP:
CHIRPP is a computerized information system that collects and analyzes data on injuries to people (mainly children) who are seen at the emergency department of ten pediatric and five general hospitals in Canada. Data collection began in April 1990 at the pediatric hospitals and between 1991 and 1994 in the general hospitals. CHIRPP is a program of the Injury and Child Maltreatment Section, Health Surveillance and Epidemiology Division of Health Canada. See the last section for suggested reference and reporting information on CHIRPP data.
LIMITATIONS OF CHIRPP DATA:
This report is based on information from British Columbia’s CHIRPP Database. It is important to note that the injuries described herein do NOT represent all injuries in British Columbia ----- only those seen at the emergency department of British Columbia Children’s Hospital. It should be noted that the following groups are under-represented in terms of injuries suffered: older teenagers seen at general hospitals, native people, and people living in rural areas. Fatal injuries are also under-represented unless they died in the emergency department.
SUMMARY:
Seventy-four snowboarding injuries were sustained; most frequently among the 10 to 14 year age group (74%). Of that group, 73% were males. Ninety-one percent of the cases sustained an injury because they lost control of their snowboard. Forty-two percent reported wearing a helmet. The majority of patients (54%) required medical follow up after the injury. The most frequent nature of injury was fractures (62%), and the body part most commonly fractured was the forearm (46%). The most common mechanism was contact with a still object (95%). In 91% of the reported injuries, informal sports was the activity that reported.
SPECIFICATIONS OF THE SEARCH:
In October 2004, a search of the British Columbia CHIRPP database (97,118 records) for the year 2002 was conducted. The age restriction was 5 to 17 years. Records were selected if they contained the factor code for snowboarding (1172). The total number of records selected was 74.
SNOWBOARDING INJURIES TO DATE IN OUR DATABASE1
1Exact numbers for 2003 are not available at this time
AGE AND SEX DISTRIBUTION
LOCATION (WHERE INJURY OCCURRED)
NATURE OF FIRST INJURY AND BODY PART INJURED1
| Nature of injury |
Number |
Total |
Percent |
| Fracture |
46 |
62% |
|
| Forearm |
21 |
||
| Wrist |
9 |
||
| Upper arm |
6 |
||
| Elbow |
4 |
||
| Finger |
2 |
||
| Thigh |
1 |
||
| Clavicle |
1 |
||
| Ankle |
1 |
||
| Knee |
1 |
||
| Superficial |
7 |
9% |
|
| Shoulder |
2 |
||
| Clavicle |
1 |
||
| Finger |
1 |
||
| Knee |
1 |
||
| Thigh |
1 |
||
| Upper arm |
1 |
||
| Head Injury |
5 |
7% |
|
| Concussion |
3 |
||
| Minor |
2 |
||
| Soft tissue injury |
6 |
8% |
|
| Wrist |
3 |
||
| Forearm |
1 |
||
| Hand |
1 |
||
| Lower back |
1 |
||
| Sprain/Strain |
5 |
7% |
|
| Wrist |
2 |
||
| Ankle |
1 |
||
| Finger |
1 |
||
| Thigh |
1 |
||
| Internal organ injury |
1 |
1% |
|
| Abdomen |
1 |
||
| Injury to muscle/tendon |
1 |
1% |
|
| Injury to nerve |
1 |
1% |
|
| Dislocation |
1 |
1% |
|
| Shoulder |
1 |
||
| Not specified |
1 |
1% |
|
| Total |
74 |
100% |
|
SUGGESTED REFERENCE AND REPORTING INFORMATION
This report and data from it may be copied and circulated freely, provided that the source is acknowledged.The following citation is recommended:
Injury data obtained from the database of the British Columbia Children’s Hospital, Canadian Hospitals Injury Reporting and Prevention Program (CHIRPP), Health Canada.