Adolescent injuries in Canada: findings from the Canadian community health survey, 2000-2001.

This article presents a description of injuries among 24312 Canadian adolescents, aged 12-24 years, based on the Canadian Community Health Survey, 2000-2001. A total of 3214 (25.6%) males and 2227 (16.5%) females reported having at least one serious injury in the past year. The leading causes of injury in adolescents were: falls; overexertion or strenuous movement; accidentally bumped, pushed or bitten; and accidentally struck or crushed by objects. The parts of the body most often affected were the ankles/feet, wrists/ hands and knees/lower legs. The most frequent locations of injuries were: sports or athletic areas; home; school, college or university areas; and the street, highway or pavement. Injuries were more often reported to have occurred during the summer months. Low socio-economic status was inversely associated with the occurrence of injury in the past year whereas risk-taking behaviour in the form of cigarette smoking and drinking alcohol was positively associated with injury occurrence.