Unintentional Injury in Early Childhood: Its Relationship with Childcare Setting and Provider

We hypothesized that young children cared for by non-parents outside of the home are at higher odds of injury compared to children cared for by parents at home. Data were obtained from the 2007 National Survey of Children’s Health. Parent-reported injury prevalence within the last 12 months for 1–5 year-olds was compared for children with different childcare providers and settings. Child age, gender, race/ethnicity, special healthcare needs, residence in a Metropolitan Statistical Area, region of United States (U.S.), and measures of poverty, family structure, and parent education were considered as covariates in logistic regression models. The prevalence of injury in the U.S. for children aged 1–5 is 11.9 %. Children who attend childcare centers ≥10 h per week have a higher injury prevalence than those cared for by parents at home (13.9 vs. 10.4 % respectively, p < 0.05), but this differs by age. Among 1-year olds, the odds of injury is lower for those with care at a center compared to at home, but among 2–5 year olds, the OR is 1.37 (95 % CI 1.04, 1.80) for childcare center versus home care, after adjusting for covariates. The relationship between care at a center and unintentional injury appears stronger when no parent in the household has a high school degree. National data indicate that children aged 2–5 who attend childcare centers may be at increased odds of injury. Future population-based studies should capture the severity and context of the injury and characteristics of the childcare center to better define this relationship.