Harry Potter casts a spell on accident prone children

BMJ 2005;331:1505
doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmj.331.7531.1505
(Published 22 December 2005)

Stephen Gwilym, specialist registrar
Dominic P J Howard, senior house officer
Nev Davies, specialist registrar
Keith Willett, consultant

Department of Orthopaedic Trauma Surgery, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford OX3 9DU

Abstract

In the infancy of this millennium two things are certain: children injure themselves on the latest “craze” and children will (probably) read the Harry Potter books. Previous reports have highlighted the impact of emerging crazes such as inline skating and microscooters, with attention being drawn to potential accident prevention and emerging patterns of injury.

One modern craze is the Harry Potter series of books and films. In the United Kingdom sales ofthe latest Harry Potter book, The Half-Blood Prince, are estimated to reach fourmillion, with around three million volumes being sold in the first week.

Given the lack of horizontal velocity, height, wheels, or sharp edges associated with this particular craze we were interested to investigate the impact the Harry Potter books had on children's traumatic injuries during the peak of their use.

http://www.bmj.com/content/331/7531/1505

Recent rapid responses

Marilyn J Cox
Medical Secretary, NHS Professionals
Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals NHS Trust

Harry Potter - Hidden Dangers
5 January 2006

I read with great interest the findings of your study. However, although it has demonstrated that the initial reading of the books reduces the incidence of accidents, further research should address the potential increase in head trauma, fractures and other musculoskeletal injuries resulting from children throwing themselves at railway station walls in an attempt to reach Platform 9¾.

Competing interests: Author sustained slight bruising to toe after dropping 'Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince' on foot.