Published online April 27, 2009
PEDIATRICS Vol. 123 No. 5 May 2009, pp. e815-e819 (doi:10.1542/peds.2008-0132)
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when eLetters are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Right arrow Citation Map
Services
Right arrow E-mail this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My File Cabinet
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via CrossRef
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Birken, C. S.
Right arrow Articles by Macarthur, C.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Birken, C. S.
Right arrow Articles by Macarthur, C.
Related Collections
Right arrow Office Practice
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us   Add to Digg   Add to Facebook   Add to Reddit   Add to Technorati   Add to Twitter  
What's this?

ARTICLE

Neighborhood Socioeconomic Status and Homicides Among Children in Urban Canada

Catherine S. Birken, MD, MSc, FRCPCa,b,c,d, Patricia C. Parkin, MD, FRCPCa,b,c,d, Teresa To, PhDc,d, Russell Wilkins, MUrbe,f and Colin Macarthur, MBChB, PhDc,g

a Division of Pediatric Medicine
b Pediatric Outcomes Research Team, Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
c Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
d Child Health Evaluative Sciences, Hospital for Sick Children Research Institute, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
e Health Information and Research Division, Statistics Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
f Department of Epidemiology and Community Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
g Bloorview Research Institute, Bloorview Kids Rehab, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

OBJECTIVE. We sought to determine the influence of neighborhood income on homicides among children living in urban Canada.

METHODS. Homicides among children <15 years of age living in any of Canada's census metropolitan areas in 1996, 1997, or 1998 were identified on the basis of vital statistics death registration data, by using International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision codes. Deaths were assigned to census tracts through postal codes, and the tracts were then assigned to neighborhood income quintiles on the basis of the proportions of the population below the Statistics Canada low-income cutoff values. Census population counts and intercensal population interpolations were used to estimate person-years at risk for rate calculations. Interquintile rate ratios and 95% confidence intervals were calculated. Poisson regression was used to model the effects of neighborhood income quintiles on homicide rates, after adjustment for age.

RESULTS. During the 3-year study period, there were 87 homicides among children <15 years of age in Canada's census metropolitan areas (0.82 cases per 100 000; not statistically different according to gender). The age-adjusted relative risks for the lowest versus highest neighborhood income quintiles were 2.95 for all children <15 years of age and 3.39 for children <5 years of age.

CONCLUSION. Effective child homicide-prevention strategies should be focused on children <5 years of age living in low-income areas.

Key Words: homicide • socioeconomic status • child • epidemiology • injury • population health

Abbreviations: CI—confidence interval • ICD-9—International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision • RR—relative risk • SES—socioeconomic status

Accepted Jan 12, 2009.


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us   Add to Digg Digg   Add to Facebook Facebook   Add to Reddit Reddit   Add to Technorati Technorati   Add to Twitter Twitter    What's this?