The impact of disparities in pediatric trauma on injury-prevention initiatives

Despite the reduction in morbidity and mortality from childhood injury in the last two decades, we must not be complacent about this success. The reality is that there are many areas where injury prevention initiatives have had little impact, and these deserve further scrutiny and program development. Better-informed and more focused injury prevention strategies must be developed for children at greatest risk. The critical interactions of social class, race and ethnicity, language proficiency, cultural background, environment, and access to health care are all essential components that must be analyzed and understood to if we are to develop effective interventions for the most vulnerable children.