Injury Control Research Center Designation

The Center for Injury Research and Policy (CIRP) is one of 11 centers in the United States currently designated as an Injury Control Research Center (ICRC) by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. CIRP was originally designated as an ICRC in 2008 and was refunded in 2012 for an additional five years. CIRP is the only ICRC focusing on research and prevention of injuries to children and adolescents.

CIRP conducts research in all three core phases of injury control (prevention, acute care and rehabilitation) and serves as an academic training center for students from high school through post-graduate levels as well as for visiting international scholars. Trans-disciplinary research conducted at CIRP includes the fields of medicine, public health, epidemiology, law and criminal justice, behavioral and social sciences, biostatistics, biomechanics, ergonomics and economics.

Injury Control Research Center Projects

Childhood Injury Statistics Using the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS)
(Principal Investigator: Xiang)
Findings will aid in developing and evaluating methods of using point-of-care clinical information systems to report injuries and other acute health problems to public health agencies.

Child Passenger Safety Among Somalis Living in Columbus, Ohio
(Principal Investigator: McKenzie)
Findings will have practical application for enhancing child passenger safety among Somali families. Columbus has the second-largest Somali refugee population in the United States. An estimated 30,000 Somali currently live in Columbus.

Critical Smoke Alarm Characteristics to Awaken Children from Stage 4 Sleep
(Principal Investigator: Smith)
Research has shown that children 5-12 years of age are unlikely to be awakened by a conventional residential tone smoke alarm in the event of a fire. The objective of this study is to determine key smoke alarm characteristics (i.e., use of child’s first name, behavior commands in the message content, use of mother’s voice and stimulus frequency) that will awaken children from stage 4 sleep and prompt their escape. This will allow the development of an effective and practical smoke alarm for children.

High School Sports Injury Surveillance and Intervention Evaluation
(Principal Investigator: Comstock)
This study will evaluate the effectiveness of the internet-based high school sports-related injury surveillance system called High School RIO™.

Parent Safety Practices and Impulsivity
(Principal Investigator: McKenzie; Co-Principal Investigator: Reynolds)
This research will classify parents of young children according to their use of safety practices related to: proper child safety seat use; safe storage of poisonous substances; proper use and maintenance of home smoke alarms; and use of carbon monoxide detectors. The long term goal is to use findings to develop and evaluate interventions to reduce injuries relating to the above sources by tailoring safety messages for parents of young children using behavioral theory and characteristics of impulsivity. This is a collaborative project between researchers from the Center for Injury Research and Policy and the Center for Biobehavioral Health.

Psychiatric Services Following Adolescent Suicide Attempt
(Principal Investigator: Bridge)
This study's research questions are: 1) Do service factors predict reattempts and re-hospitalization during follow-up; and, 2) Are there aspects of the hospital experience that influence outcome?