Brief report: unintentional injury risk among children with sensory impairments.

OBJECTIVE Pediatric injuries result from a multifaceted process involving a range of individual, interpersonal, and environmental influences. One risk that remains poorly understood is the role of children's perception and perceptual disabilities. METHODS Injury counts (parent-report of injuries requiring professional medical treatment over the past year) in three groups of children were compared: those without vision or hearing sensory impairments, those with deficits who use eyeglasses or hearing aids, and those with deficits who do not use aids as recommended. A national sample of 7391 5-year-olds in the National Head Start/Public School Early Childhood Transition Demonstration Study was studied. RESULTS Injury counts over the past year were higher among children with sensory impairments, and higher still among children with sensory impairments who did not use prescribed sensory aids. CONCLUSIONS Awareness of increased injury risk among children with hearing and vision impairment could help professionals protect children from injury.