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Biomedical subjects

M V Ridenour

Publications and source records attributed to M V Ridenour.

15 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2001

Age of children who fall down stairs in strollers and guidelines for safety.

The purpose of this study was to describe age differences for children 3 yr. old or less regarding the frequency of falling down stairs while being pushed in strollers, and frequencies of stroller incidents were compared for three age groups of children under 3 yr. of age. The first year is the time of highest risk based on the number of stroller incidents on stairs when compared to each of the next 2 years. 80% of the incidents involving children occurred between birth and 12 months. Safety recommendations to reduce risk are provided.

Accidental Falls↗
PubMed2001

Climbing performance of children: is the above-ground pool wall a climbing barrier?

15 children between the ages of 42 and 54 months attempted to climb a 48-in. wall representing the wall of an above-ground swimming pool. Three different climbing tasks were presented to all the children: (1) climbing over the swimming pool wall without any tools which could assist their climb, (2) climbing over the wall with a child-resistant ladder frame placed over the wall, (3) climbing over the wall when a pool filter was placed 12 in. from the wall. Each child's success or failure climbing over the pool wall was recorded. A repeated-measures analysis of variance indicated there were no significant performance differences in performance across the three climbing tasks. None of these climbing tasks resulted in more successful climbing performances for all the children. The results of these observations indicated the removal of the swimming pool filter or support frame of the ladder did not always stop the children from climbing over the wall. Since the 48 in. wall of the home swimming pool does not consistently function as a barrier, additional fencing is needed to prevent children from entering above-ground home swimming pools. However, no barrier replaces constant supervision of young children.

Child, Preschool↗
PubMed2001

Catch-points as strangulation hazards in cribs.

The purpose of this study was to describe the manipulation of various lengths of neck cords by 80 2-yr.-old children. Analysis indicated that the children manipulated the neck cords, but the frequencies of these manipulations were not significantly different for the four different lengths of neck cords. The largest openings within the neck cord occurred when the children were using one or both hands to manipulate the neck cord.

Accidents, Home↗
PubMed1999

Ages of young children who fall down stairs.

Different accident patterns were noted for children using walkers and not using walkers at the time of an accident. The children were divided into two locomotion groups, natural locomotion (384 children) and walker-aided locomotion (235 children), depending on the presence or absence of a walker during the fall down the stairs. A review of incidents reported by a sample of emergency rooms identified 619 falls down steps by children between 5 and 18 mo. old during the first 6 months of 1995. The age of the highest risk, as indicated by the frequency of falls down the stairs, for the walker-aided locomotion group was 8 mo. The age of highest risk for the natural locomotion group was 12 mo. Children who fall down the stairs, in or out of a walker, are victims of the same hazard, unprotected stairs. Home safety recommendations to reduce the risk of young children falling down the stairs are provided.

Accidental Falls↗
PubMed1998

Golf clubs: hidden home hazard for children.

Different accident patterns for golf equipment were noted for adults and children. Children are more likely than adults to be hit by a golf club as bystanders who entered the swing zone of a golf club. Previous publications investigating accidents involving golf clubs and over 2000 incidents involving emergency room treatment of children injured by golf clubs were reviewed. Most injuries occurred when unsupervised children played with golf clubs at home. When studies limit their focus to accident victims, who are currently being treated in the emergency room, hospital, or outpatient facility, no deaths are reported. A separate analysis of death certificates of children between the ages of 4 and 14 years also identified death as a possible consequence as 19 deaths have been reported to the National Injury Information Clearinghouse. Based on these three sources of data, golf clubs should not be used by children unsupervised given the potential for serious and permanent head injury and death. Recommendations for parents and manufactures regarding the safety of golf clubs are provided.

Accidents, Home↗
PubMed1997

Age appropriateness and safety of electric outlet protectors for children.

Publications and guidelines relating to the safe use of electric outlet protectors are reviewed and summarized. 37 children, 2 and 4 years old, participated in the assessment of three different styles of outlet protectors 43 adults also participated in the assessment by removing the outlet protectors. A series of three outlet protectors were used to compare the difficulty of removing each protector. None of the three outlet protectors could prevent all the 2- and 4-yr.-olds from access to the electrical outlet openings. One style of outlet protector was much easier than the other two for the children to gain access to the electrical outlet openings. Results of this study indicate some outlet protectors may provide a false security to parents who elect to use these devices in the home.

Accidents, Home↗
PubMed1997

How child-resistant are stroller belt buckles?

70 children, between the ages of 24 and 36 months, participated in the assessment of three different styles of stroller seat buckles representing difficulties for children to disconnect the buckle mechanism in the restraint system. None could prevent all the children from opening the restraint system. One was much easier for children to open than the other two styles. Stroller-restraint buckles provide false security to parents who use strollers, as there are no published standards regarding the use of children's stroller seat-belt buckles as a safety device.

Child, Preschool↗
PubMed1997

How effective are brakes on infant walkers?

62 children, between the ages of 9 and 18 months old, were observed in an instrumented walker to measure the peak horizontal pull forces. These pull forces were later used to evaluate an infant walker with a braking system that would stop on the top step of the stairs before falling down the stairs. This brake system is activated when part of the walker crosses over the edge of the top step. Using the range of horizontal pull forces generated by the 62 children, the horizontal brake system for walkers would not always prevent the walker from falling down the stairs. Four floor surfaces were compared: carpet, vinyl, glossy wood, and unfinished wood. The walker brake system did not always stop the walkers on these floor surfaces. Using the measured weights and horizontal forces of the 21 nonwalking children between 9 and 13 months old who represent children who typically fall down the stairs in a walker, a simulation procedure was completed to represent the worse possible force condition, the peak horizontal force, for each of the 21 children. During this simulation, brakes would have failed all the time for 18 of the 21 children, and at least half the time for the remaining 3 children. These brake systems may provide false security to parents who use these walkers, since there are no published standards regarding the performance of brake systems for infant walkers as a safety device.

Accidental Falls↗
PubMed1997

Age, side height, and spindle shape of the crib in climbing over the side.

The crib is the only infant product in which a consumer, such as a parent or caretaker, is encouraged to leave the infant unattended, usually alone in the bedroom, while the infant is sleeping or going to sleep or waking. Given frequent falls from the crib, federal crib regulations have set the minimum distance between the top of the mattress support and top of the crib side rail as 26 in. and this height must include a 6-in. thick mattress. When a mattress is used with the crib, the actual height of the crib side as a barrier is 20 in. These crib regulations also require instructions for the caretaker to discontinue using the crib when the child's height is 35 inches. These federal crib regulations attempt to create an escape-resistant sleeping environment for all children who are less than 35 in. tall. Of 144 children between the ages of 12.5 and 36.5 mo. observed while attempting to climb out of a crib, who also had standing heights of less than 35 in., many were able to climb from cribs with side rail heights of 26 in. When the crib side-rail height was raised beyond the minimum of 26 in., the frequency of children climbing over the crib rails decreased.

Accidental Falls↗
PubMed1983

Inspection of the Bayley Mental Scale test materials for potential hazards of choking, aspiration, and ingestion when used outside of test situation.

The test materials of the Bayley Scales of Infant Development were inspected for potential choking, aspiration, and ingestion hazards by unsupervised children under 36 mo. of age. When the small-parts test cylinder, defined by the Federal Code of Regulations, was used for the inspection, four pieces of test materials were judged too small: the doll with detached head, sugar pellets, the rabbit, and yellow cubes.

Airway Obstruction↗
PubMed1982

Infant walkers: developmental tool or inherent danger.

This study investigated the influence of pre-walking practice in an infant walker on the onset time of independent walking. 15 pairs of twins were randomly divided into experimental and control groups. Only the experimental group was exposed to an infant walker. This group spent a minimum of 1 hr. per day in an infant walker from 4 mo. of age until the onset of bipedal locomotion. The infants in the control group were not placed in infant walkers. A one-way analysis of variance indicated there was no significant difference between the mean ages of initial walking for the experimental and control groups. The use of the infant walker did not influence the onset of independent walking.

Child Development↗
PubMed1981

Influence of background patterns of coincidence-anticipation performance.

15 boys and 15 girls, 6 yr. old, participated in a study assessing the influence of visual background patterns and object speed on coincidence-anticipation. The Bassin Anticipation Timer, utilizing light-emitting diodes in the lighted runway and pushbutton, was used to determine the subjects' accuracy of anticipation of the dynamic target light. The two object speeds were 1.45 and 2.90 kilometers per hour, and the two background conditions were a solid black background and red vertical stripes on a black background. Absolute and constant temporal errors were recorded for a total of 24 trials utilizing a random order of 6 replications of the 4 conditions. Analysis of variance indicated only speed of the object, and not visual background patterns, influenced coincidence-anticipation performance.

Child↗
PubMed1980

Influence of vertical and vertical-horizontal background patterns on perception of visual direction of a moving object.

30 boys and 30 girls, 6 yr. old, participated in a study assessing the influence of vertical and vertical-horizontal background patterns on the prediction of an object's directionality. An experimental apparatus was designed to permit modified spherical objects with interchangeable covers and backgrounds to move in three-dimensional space in three directions at selected speeds. The subject's task was to predict one of three possible directions of the object: the object moved toward the subject's midline or toward a point 18 in. to the left or right of the midline. The movement of all objects started at the same place which was 19.5 ft. in front of the subject. Prediction time was recorded for each of 10 trials. Analysis of variance indicated that vertical and vertical-horizontal patterns of the background behind the moving object did influence the prediction of an object's directionality by the girls.

Child↗