1 Department of Pediatrics and Community Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, School of Medicine, and The Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh
Although it is generally accepted that the maintenance of health ought to be the major objective of health professionals, the prevention of illness has largely been secondary to treatment of existing disease in clinical practice and in research. One example of this dichotomy between goals and practice is the approach that the medical profession has taken with regard to accidents, which cause more injuries and deaths in children and young adults than any single disease process.1 Whereas millions of dollars and countless hours are spent in caring for individuals injured in accidents, research directed toward prevention of accidents and subsequent injury has been so sparse that many facets of this field have not been investigated beyond a cursory examination.