Pediatric Inflatable Bouncer–Related Injuries in the United States, 1990–2010

Thompson et. al (1). studied the hazard associated with children's recreational use of inflatable bouncers and noted an alarming 15-fold increase in injuries in recent years but did not identify an explanation for this dramatic trend. It should be noted that during this period, major changes occurred in the convenient accessibility of inflatable bouncers. For many years, inflatable bouncers were large, expensive commercial equipment, installed at parks or rented by the day for parties. More recently, home ownership has become feasible and increasingly popular, with the advent of bouncers suitable for indoor playrooms costing less than $200. Thus, children who used to encounter a bouncer at an occasional birthday party might now have one in their home and use it daily with friends and siblings. Such a huge increase in the opportunity for bouncer use may be sufficient to explain increasing numbers of injuries, without any need to assume an increase in the hazard of the devices. Inflatable bouncers are undoubtedly associated with some risk of injury, but this study tends to overstate it, by focusing on the total incidence over a 21-year period (64,657) rather than the more familiar concept of an annual rate (average annual incidence, 3,078) and by referring to "a child injured every 46 minutes" without providing any basis for comparison with other activities. For example, the annual rate of bouncer-related injures reported in this study was much smaller than that associated with either trampolines (41,600 annual injuries (2)) or playground equipment (213,680 annual injuries(3)). This study is useful for raising awareness of the potential for injury to children playing on inflatable bouncers but the conclusion that this risk is exceptionally urgent or epidemic goes beyond the data presented. Since it is difficult to interpret injury statistics without data on exposure, further research is needed on the relationship of injury to use in order to determine whether this particular activity is more or less hazardous to children than other common forms of active recreation.

1. Thompson, M et al. Pediatric Inflatable Bouncer-Related Injuries in the United States, 1990-2010. Pediatrics. 2012; 130:1076 -1083 2. Smith GA. Injuries to children in the United States related to trampolines, 1990-1995: a national epidemic. Pediatrics. 1998;101(3 pt 1):406-412 3. Vollman D, Witsaman R, Comstock RD, Smith GA. Epidemiology of Playground Equipment-Related Injuries to Children in the United States, 1996-2005, Clin Pediatr January 2009 48: 66-71

Conflict of Interest:

None declared