Children's Fatality Report is Released

A report summarizing the causes of deaths of children in Houston and Harris County has been released. The review by a multi-agency team examines the years 1996 and 1997; data from the years 1998 and 1999 are currently under study.

Several member institutions of the Texas Medical Center - Texas Children's Hospital, Memorial Hermann Children's Hospital and the Harris County Hospital District - are represented in the member agencies, joining the Houston Department of Health and Human Service, the Harris County Public Health and Environmental Services, Harris County Medical Examiner's Office, District Attorney's Office, Children's Protective Services, Harris County Sheriff, Houston Fire Department and Emergency Medical Services, Texas Department of Protective and Regulatory Services and 27 area police departments.

The Houston/Harris County Child Fatality Review Team (HHCCFRT) Report, 1996-1997, was released on Jan. 31 at a press briefing held at the Museum of Health & Medical Science. The exhaustive 34-page report looks at unintentional and intentional deaths of children under the age 18 and analyzes data in an attempt to identify patterns and trends in the deaths. Researchers who compiled the report hope it will contribute to the development and implementation of interventions designed to reduce the number of preventable deaths.

Approximately 4,000 children die each year in Texas, and Harris County - the state's largest county (and third largest in the U.S.) - leads in number of deaths in Texas counties with 624 deaths in 1996 and 634 deaths in 1997, the years under study for the report. Those deaths equal a high rate: 68 per 100,000 specified population (children under 18) for the two years.

"Actually, we know very little about how or why children are dying in our state," says Cindy Kilborn, M.P.H., Harris County Public Health and Environmental Services epidemiologist and chairperson of the HHCCFRT team. "There are many agencies that have a role in responding to a child's death, but there isn't a system for evaluating the risk factors or causes. If we can better identify those risk factors, then we can target some prevention initiatives." Kilborn adds, "Our slogan sums it up: `A community which does not know how their children are dying, cannot save them.'"

The HHCCFRT report divides the child population into five age groups (less than one year, 1-4 years, 5-8 years, 10-14 years and 15-17 years), ethnicity groups and gender. It further sub-divides these groups by leading causes of death, including conditions originating in the perinatal period (before birth), unintentional injury, infectious and parasitic diseases, sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), cancer, diseases of the circulatory, respiratory and nervous systems, suicide and homicide.

Observations about the different causes of death are offered in the report. For example, 62 percent of all drownings among children ages 1-4 occurred in swimming pools, while 56 percent of all drownings in natural bodies of water were among the 15-17 age group. The observations naturally lead, in the report, to prevention strategies.

The report is available on the Web at www.hd.co.harris.tx.us/opa/child.htm

The final draft was prepared by Polina Strug, M.P.H., Harris County Health and Environmental Services.

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©2006 Texas Medical Center

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