| Summary: | Background: Injuries are a common public health problem. Non-fatal injuries may result in pain and disabilities. Falls are a common causes of non-fatal injuries and many of these injuries occur during some physical activity. Children and senior citizens are two groups of special interest as their body constitution makes them more vulnerable to injuries than the general population. Outdoor environments influence the risk of injury as people are generally physically active when outdoor. Despite a higher risk for injury, physical activity is a common recommendation for a healthy lifestyle. Children and senior citizens should be able to safely participate in outdoor activities and gain health benefits. There is a need to highlight the complexity of balancing injury risk and the healthy benefits of outdoor activities among these two groups. Aim: The overall aim of this thesis was to investigate injuries among children and senior citizens sustained during outdoor activities and explore experiences and perceptions on risk and possibilities to increase safety in the outdoor environment. Methods: The studies were performed in northern Sweden. Theparticipants were children through the age of 12 (Studies I & II) and senior citizens aged 65 and older (Studies III & IV). In Studies I and III, a crosssectional retrospective study design was used. The data were collected from an Injury Data Base (IDB) at a hospital with a catchment area of 60 kilometres in a well-defined population. Data in Study III was complemented with a study-specific questionnaire. Injury data were analysed descriptively. Study II was a field-study that included 14 days of observations, six focus-group interviews with children, and four focus-group interviews with teachers. The three data sources were taken together and analysed using qualitative content analysis. Study IV was a focus-group interview study with 31 senior citizens divided into six focus-groups. Data in Study IV was analysed with qualitative content analysis. Results: In Study I, ...
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