New National Study of Crash-Involved Children Reaffirms Recommendations for Booster Seat Through Age 8

New National Study of Crash-Involved Children Reaffirms Recommendations for
Booster Seat Through Age 8

Boosters especially effective in side impact crashes

PHILADELPHIA, Oct. 19 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A study released today in
Pediatrics by The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia offers updated evidence
that children ages 4 to 8 who are restrained in the rear seat of a car in a
belt-positioning booster seat are 45 percent less likely to be injured in a
crash compared with children using a seat belt alone. Furthermore, the study
showed there was no difference in the level of protection offered by backless
versus high back booster seats. Of those riding in booster seats, children
involved in side-impact crashes saw the greatest reduction in injury risk.

Researchers at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia's Center for Injury
Research and Prevention studied more than 7,000 children ages 4 to 8 involved
in real-world crashes between 1998 and 2007.

"We wanted to take a fresh look at booster seats' effectiveness to reduce
injury among this age group, because when we first evaluated the protective
benefits of booster seats in 2002, most children using them were 4 and 5 years
old," explains lead researcher Kristy Arbogast, Ph.D., Director of Engineering
at CHOP's Center for Injury Research and Prevention. "Since then, usage rates
among older kids ages 6- to 8 have tripled, and we wanted to be sure these
older kids were as well-protected by booster seats as the younger ones, now
that we had more data. We found that injury reduction offered by booster seats
remains significant even when a greater proportion of older children are
included in the study."

Researchers attribute the sharp increase in booster seat use among older
children, in part, to many states passing upgrades to their child restraint
laws that require booster seats for children older than age 4. The upper age
limit of these booster laws varies by state and ranges from 6 through 8 years.
Passage of these laws is associated with a nearly 40% increase in child
restraint use among children up to age 8. While 47 states have booster seat
laws, only 25 states and the District of Columbia require booster seats for
children up to at least age 8. Florida, Arizona, and South Dakota have no
booster seat law. The CHOP researchers recommend policymakers work to close
these gaps in the laws to cover children to at least age 8 so that parents
have the best information to protect their children.

"Based this new analysis of a decade's worth of data on children involved in
crashes, policymakers, pediatricians and health educators should continue to
recommend as best practice the use of belt-positioning booster seats once a
child outgrows a harnessed based child restraint until he/she is at least 8
years of age," says Dennis Durbin, M.D., M.S.C.E., Co-Scientific Director of
The Center for Injury Research and Prevention and study co-author.
"Additionally, these results can give confidence to parents and health
educators that choosing between a high back versus a backless booster seat for
their child does not represent a compromise in safety."

More information about this study, along with videos and fact sheets for
parents about how to choose and install the right child restraint for your
child and you vehicle are available at www.chop.edu/carseat. Additionally, an
up-to-date chart of state booster seat laws and information is available at
http://www.iihs.org/laws/childrestraint.aspx.

About The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia was founded in 1855 as the nation's
first pediatric hospital. Through its long-standing commitment to providing
exceptional patient care, training new generations of pediatric health care
professionals and pioneering major research initiatives, Children's Hospital
has fostered many discoveries that have benefited children worldwide. Its
pediatric research program is among the largest in the country, ranking third
in National Institutes of Health funding. In addition, its unique
family-centered care and public service programs have brought the 430-bed
hospital recognition as a leading advocate for children and adolescents. For
more information, visit http://www.chop.edu.

About The Center for Injury Research and Prevention
The Center for Injury Research and Prevention (formerly TraumaLink) at The
Children's Hospital of Philadelphia was established in 1998 to advance the
safety of children and young adults through science. Operating with the
central belief that children are not small adults, the Center's
multidisciplinary team of researchers work to reduce injuries- the leading
cause of death and acquired disability among the young. The Center's research
is organized around three disciplines: epidemiology/ biostatistics,
engineering, and behavioral science. Based on the research questions at hand,
the Center draws from CHOP and University of Pennsylvania-based expertise in
emergency medicine; pediatric trauma; surgery; nursing; social work; pediatric
and adolescent medicine; epidemiology and biostatistics; bioengineering;
computational engineering; psychology; behavioral science; communications; and
health education. Center findings are published in scientific journals and
translated into recommendation and education tools for parents, educators,
policymakers and product manufacturers. For more information on the Center and
its research initiatives, visit www.chop.edu/injury.

CONTACT: Dana Mortensen
The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
mortensen@email.chop.edu
267-426-6092

SOURCE The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia

Dana Mortensen of The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, +1-267-426-6092,
mortensen@email.chop.edu