Injuries and poisonings in out-of-home child care and home care
W. J. Gunn, P. F. Pinsky, J. J. Sacks and L. B. Schonberger
Division of Viral and Rickettsial Diseases, Centers for Disease Control, Atlanta, GA 30333.
As part of a national telephone survey regarding health events associated
with out-of-home child care, data regarding poisonings and injuries were
collected. Of 171 reported poisonings, none occurred during out-of-home
child care. The rate of injury during out-of-home child care was 1.69 per
100,000 child-hours compared with 2.66 for home care. Overall injury rates
were slightly higher for children who attended out-of-home child care than
for those who do not. This occurred because children who attended
out-of-home child care had a higher injury rate during home care than did
the children who did not attend out-of-home child care at all. Although
out-of-home child care may carry an increased risk of infectious disease
relative to home care, it does not appear to carry an increased risk of
injury and, in fact, may confer a lower risk.
