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Trampolines: Is the fun worth the risk?

When the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission recommended a ban on infant walkers in 1995, about 25,000 children were being injured each year, and 11 deaths had been recorded in the previous five years. According to CPSC surveys, about 83,000 people, mostly children, are injured every year on trampolines. Are trampolines destined for the same fate as baby walkers?

Yes, if a group of pediatricians in Salt Lake City has its way.

Researchers at the University of Utah School of Medicine reported on trampoline injuries in 1992 and again this spring. Their most recent report, published in the June issue of Pediatrics, cites evidence of an alarming increase in trampoline-related injuries in children. Most of these injuries were on trampolines used at homes.

Since their last report, pediatric trampoline injuries increased so significantly the researchers have now called for a ban on recreational, school and competitive use of trampolines by children. They also urged the American Academy of Pediatrics to strengthen its current recommendation on the use of trampolines. In its first position statement on trampolines, issued in 1977, the AAP called for a ban on trampolines but softened its message in a 1981 document called Trampolines II.

Who's getting hurt In 1996, the emergency department at University of Utah Hospital treated 148 patients with trampoline injuries--nearly triple what they treated just five years earlier. In all, the researchers reported on 727 patients who were treated over seven years. On average, children were seven years old. The youngest patient was just three months old. This agrees with data from the U.S. Consumer Protection Commission from the same year that said the majority of the 83,000 people injured were less than 15 years old.

The Utah study also noted that:

• 53 percent of those injured were girls.
• About a third of all injured were less than six years old.
• Two-thirds of the injuries occurred on the trampoline.
• Getting hurt by falling off the trampoline accounted for 28 percent of injuries.

The most common injuries were fractures, occurring in 45 percent of the children, usually after they fell off the trampoline. Spinal injuries were treated in 12 percent of the patients, and these injuries usually happened on the trampoline itself. Nearly 20 percent of the children brought to the emergency department were admitted to the hospital. The approximate cost of caring for these children? $700,000.

The backyard problem In both this study and the Consumer Product study, a higher proportion of younger children were being injured on trampolines. About three-quarters of these young children were injured on the trampoline while under direct adult supervision. Did a past injury discourage children from going back on? No. More than half the children who had been injured continued to use the trampoline.

Given the frequency and severity of the injuries, the researchers wrote that the trampoline cannot be considered a "simple backyard toy."

What the researchers suggest Based on their own research and a review of other studies, the researchers warn that trampolines cannot be made safe enough for use in the home or in the school. They suggest pediatricians should support a return to the 1977 AAP statement against trampolines and should support a ban on the devices at home, in the school and in competitive settings.