ABSTRACT
Epidemiology can help clinicians by identifying common causes, mechanisms, and patterns of injury. This is best done in defined populations of children at the local, regional, national, or international level. The costs of treating trauma victims and the pain and suffering they endure are very high, even when the final outcome is excellent. Prevention would eliminate these effects. About 50% of pediatric trauma deaths occur in the field before the victim even reaches a trauma center. The risk of most types of injury varies with age. Homicide is the leading cause of injury death for infants from 1 month to 1 year of age in the United States. The homicide rate for boys is almost three times higher than for girls. It is also much higher among African Americans than Caucasians. Child abuse causes the majority of homicides in the first year of life; gunshot wounds predominate among teenagers.
