RT Journal
A1 Rodgers GB, Topping JC
T1 SAfety effects of drawstring requirements for children's upper outerwear garments
JF Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine
JO Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine
YR 2012
FD July 1
VO 166
IS 7
SP 651
OP 655
DO 10.1001/archpediatrics.2011.1269
UL http://dx.doi.org/10.1001/archpediatrics.2011.1269
AB Objective 
                  To evaluate the effectiveness of the requirements of the voluntary safety standard for drawstrings on children's upper outerwear garments in preventing child deaths resulting from drawstring entanglement.Design 
                  An interrupted time series design. Annual estimates of drawstring-related child deaths were developed for the study period of January 1985 to December 2009. A Poisson regression model for rate data was used to evaluate the effectiveness of the drawstring requirements during the postintervention period.Setting 
                  United States.Subjects 
                  Children aged 14 years and younger.Intervention 
                  The application of the drawstring requirements of the voluntary standard that were adopted in 1997.Main Outcome Measure 
                  The estimated percentage reduction in the drawstring-related child mortality rate associated with the application of the drawstring requirements.Results 
                  The drawstring requirements of the voluntary standard were associated with a 90.9% (95% CI, 83.8%-96.1%) reduction in the drawstring-related mortality rate. This suggests the prevention of about 50 child deaths from 1997, when the voluntary standard was adopted, through the end of our study period in 2009.Conclusions 
                  The requirements of the voluntary safety standard for drawstrings have been highly effective in preventing deaths resulting from the entanglement of drawstrings in children's upper outerwear garments.