The causes and consequences of injury in students at UK institutes of higher education

Differences in Work and Commuting Accidents between Employees and Students at Higher Education Institutions in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, from December 2014 to December 2019

Accidents are one of the most important public health concerns because of their high prevalence and considerable health outcomes. Although higher education institutions (HEIs) play an important role in health promotion and disease prevention, accidents are rarely investigated in this setting. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to address this gap by analyzing the frequency and characteristics of employee and student accidents at HEIs in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. A dataset of all accidents that happened to employees and students at HEIs in Rhineland-Palatinate from December 2014 to December 2019 and the characteristics of these accidents was provided by the responsible statutory accident insurance (Accident Insurance Fund of Rhineland-Palatinate). Modified thousand-men quotas (the rate of injuries per 1000 people) were calculated to investigate the differences in frequencies and characteristics of accidents between employees and students, as well as between institutions. A total of 3810 accidents (n = 1326; 34.8% work and n = 2484; 65.2% commuting) were reported, of which 426 involved employees and 3384 involved students. The frequency and characteristics of the accidents varied between employees and students, as well as between institutions. Sports programs at HEIs for example imply high risks for unintentional injuries especially for students (as they make up the majority of participants). Other main findings are that medical students, as well as students of subjects including laboratory work, are at a higher risk to experience study-related accidents whereas employees seem to be at a higher risk when working in a technical field. The results call for the development of accident prevention concepts at HEIs and the implementation of interventions in respective institutions and target groups.

Study-Related Work and Commuting Accidents among Students at the University of Mainz from 12/2012 to 12/2018: Identification of Potential Risk Groups and Implications for Prevention

Background: Universities represent an important setting of everyday life for health promotion. The aim of the present study was to assess whether university students of specific disciplines might have an increased risk for having a study-related work accident and to analyze what types of study-related work accidents occur most frequently. Furthermore, knowledge regarding study-related commuting accidents will be provided by identifying places where study-related commuting accidents might occur most frequently and on potential types of commuting (walking vs. biking) which might be associated with an increased risk for having a study-related commuting accident. Methods: Retrospective analyses of a dataset provided by the Accident Insurance Fund of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, including all accidents that happened at the University of Mainz (JGU) between December 2012 and December 2018 were performed. Binominal tests were computed to reveal whether the frequency of study-related work accidents in students affiliated with a specific faculty or institution differs significantly from the expected frequency of all reported study-related work accidents. Results: Overall, 1285 study-related accidents were analyzed—of which, 71.8% were work and 28.2% commuting accidents. Students of ‘Faculty—Medicine’ (80.5%; p = 0.003), ‘Faculty—Chemistry, Pharmaceutical Sciences, Geography and Geosciences’ (90.7%; p < 0.001), and students that participated in study-related sports activities (97.4%; p ≤ 0.001) had a significantly increased risk for the occurrence of a study-related work accident. Needlestick and sharps injuries (NSIs) as well as lab accidents play a pivotal role. Furthermore, above 40% of the study-related commuting accidents were cycling accidents. Conclusions: There is a call for prevention in order to decrease the number of NSIs among medical students, lab accidents as well as sport-related accidents. Concrete implications for prevention are discussed in the present paper. In addition, given that students are among the most likely to bicycle, and given that most bicycle-related accidents involve fatal injuries, cycling safety campaigns need to be initiated on campus.

Diagnoses and time to recovery among injured recreational runners in the RUN CLEVER trial

PURPOSE

The purpose of the present study was to describe the incidence proportion of different types of running-related injuries (RRI) among recreational runners and to determine their time to recovery.

METHODS

A sub-analysis of the injured runners included in the 839-person, 24-week randomized trial named Run Clever. During follow-up, the participants reported levels of pain in different anatomical areas on a weekly basis. In case injured, runners attended a clinical examination at a physiotherapist, who provided a diagnosis, e.g., medial tibial stress syndrome (MTSS), Achilles tendinopathy (AT), patellofemoral pain (PFP), iliotibial band syndrome (ITBS) and plantar fasciopathy (PF). The diagnose-specific injury proportions (IP) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated using descriptive statistics. The time to recovery was defined as the time from the first registration of pain until total pain relief in the same anatomical area. It was reported as medians and interquartile range (IQR) if possible.

RESULTS

A total of 140 runners were injured at least once leading to a 24-week cumulative injury proportion of 32% [95% CI: 26%; 37%]. The diagnoses with the highest incidence proportion were MTSS (IP = 16% [95% CI: 9.3%; 22.9%], AT (IP = 8.9% [95% CI: 3.6%; 14.2%], PFP (IP = 8% [95% CI: 3.0%; 13.1%]. The median time to recovery for all types of injuries was 56 days (IQR = 70 days). Diagnose-specific time-to-recoveries included 70 days (IQR = 89 days) for MTSS, 56 days (IQR = 165 days) for AT, 49 days (IQR = 63 days) for PFP.

CONCLUSION

The most common running injuries among recreational runners were MTSS followed by AT, PFP, ITBS and PF. In total, 77 injured participants recovered their RRI and the median time to recovery for all types of injuries was 56 days and MTSS was the diagnosis with the longest median time to recovery, 70 days.

Factors Associated with Unintentional Injury among University Students in 26 Countries

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this study was to determine estimates of the incidence and social correlates of nonfatal injury among university students in 26 low-, middle-, and high-income countries.

DESIGN AND SAMPLE

Using anonymous questionnaires, data were collected in a cross-sectional survey of 19,111 undergraduate university students (mean age 20.8, SD = 2.8) from 27 universities in 26 countries across Asia, Africa, and the Americas.

MEASURES

Questionnaire on health risk behaviors, psychological distress, personality, social variables, and injury requiring medical treatment or missing at least one day of usual activities.

RESULTS

The percentage of university students reporting one or more serious injuries within the past 12 months was 25.2% for all countries, in men 28.8% and women 21.1%. In multivariate logistic regression among men, socio-demographic variables, health risk behaviors, posttraumatic stress (PTSD) symptoms, lack of personal control and lack of social support, and among women, residing on campus, health risk behaviors, PTSD symptoms, lack of personal control, and lack of social support were associated with injury incidence.

CONCLUSIONS

Several risk factors were identified which will increase the understanding of public health nurses of injuries in university communities to design programs for injury prevention programs specifically targeting university students, staff, and university health center professionals.

School environment and school injuries

Background: Although injuries at school are an important issue in public health, environmental factors in schools and school yards have seldom been the focus of school injury research. The goal of our investigation was to examine the effect of environmental factors on school injuries.

Methods: Nine comprehensive Finnish schools registered school injuries over a period of two school years. Injuries were classified as being associated with environmental factors, suspected environmental factors, and others. The consensus between two independent classifiers was 81%.

Results: A total of 722 injuries were classified. In 11.6% of these injuries, the physical environment factor was evident, and in 28.1% of the injuries, physical environment was suspected of being a contributory risk factor. Thus the physical environment of the school was a contributing factor in over a third (39.7%) of injuries occurring in the school, on the school yard or during the journey to, or from school. In this study, conducted in Finland, ice on the ground was mentioned most frequently as an environmental risk factor.

Conclusion: In Finland, the Nordic weather conditions are not taken into account in the school yard and playground plans as they ought to from the safety point of view. An initiative has been launched on a mandatory wintertime master plan for every school yard.

Accidents in the context of study among university students--a multicentre cross-sectional study in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany

Knowledge about prevalence and patterns of accidents among university students is scarce. The aims of the present health survey were to assess the general prevalence of accidents among university students, to describe the specific kinds of accidents, and to analyse associated factors. A multicentre cross-sectional health survey was conducted at 12 universities and 4 universities of applied sciences in North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW), Germany. The response rate was 88%. The self-administered questionnaire covered multiple areas of health, behaviours and a specific module for accidents. In total, 252 (8.8%) out of 2855 students (aged 17-26 years) had experienced an accident in the context of their studies. Contusions, compressions and strains constituted more than 50% of all kinds of injuries, while fractures, irritations, burns or acid burns were reported less frequently. The cumulative risk of experiencing an accident was increasing linearly with the study duration, indicating an absence of a specific vulnerable period. Nearly 60% of all accidents took place during study-related sports activities, and about a quarter of all accidents occurred on the way to or from university. Only few accidents occurred on university floors, in lecture rooms or on stairways. Further studies are needed to assess more in depth the causes of accidents and the situation immediately preceding the event before making specific recommendations for prevention.

Attitudes toward predeployment and experimental vaccinations among troops deployed to Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom

BACKGROUND

The Department of Defense is actively engaged in the research and development of vaccine(s) to mitigate the burden of disease associated with diarrhea among deployed troops. Soldiers' attitudes and beliefs toward predeployment vaccines and participation in experimental research with vaccines are unknown.

METHODS

To assess these attitudes, a survey was distributed among soldiers who had been and were currently deployed to Operations Iraqi and Enduring Freedom.

RESULTS

Sixty-one percent of soldiers believe that predeployment vaccines are important, and 21% are hesitant to receive these vaccinations. Fifteen percent of soldiers stated that they would be willing to enroll in a study evaluating experimental vaccines, and 14% stated that they would participate in military research for vaccine development. Both male and female soldiers agreed that predeployment vaccines were important (86 and 92%, respectively); however, compared to their male counterparts, females were more hesitant to receive routine vaccinations (45% vs 37%) and less likely to volunteer for an experimental vaccine study (12% vs 20%). Officers and Air Force personnel were less hesitant to receive routine vaccinations compared to enlisted and other service personnel, respectively. Furthermore, if a soldier experienced three or more episodes of diarrhea, he or she was more likely to try an experimental vaccine to prevent diarrhea (23% vs 13%, p < 0.0001).

CONCLUSIONS

A disconnect exists between the belief that immunizations are important and the hesitancy to receive them. Future studies should be directed to understand this gap and emphasize the critical importance of vaccines for health of US personnel in garrison and on deployment.