Re-thinking the surface design: How to prevent playground related extremity injuries in children

Abstract

Public playgrounds are specially designed spaces for children to play and develop; however, falls are significant causes of children’s injury and are one of the most common mechanisms of injury in emergency departments. The study aims to survey the playground-related mechanism and incidence of extremity injuries in children and rethink the falling surface as designable equipment. The retrospective observational study enrolled 90 children who are injured in playgrounds and visited the emergency department in Istanbul between 2019 and 2020. Later, an observational study was conducted in public playgrounds within the neighborhood boundaries of the emergency department. The results show that the most common playground equipment related to the injury is slides and the most common surfacing material is rubber. The majority of total injuries were classified as upper extremity, and wrist fractures were the predominant injury type. The result of this study shows even with impact-absorbent surfacing such as rubber, fractures occur in children who fall from a certain height. To prevent these falls, rethinking the surface as designable equipment under high play equipment may help slow the fall.