ABSTRACT
A case-control study was carried out to identify risk factors of injury in 200 children (mean age 6.68 +/- 3.9 years) attending the Emergency Room, Ramathibodi Hospital from April to August 1987. Traffic and falls were the most common causes of injuries in all age groups. Falls, traffic and sport injuries were responsible for the age-specific injury in infants, 1-10 years and more than 10 year-old children respectively. Most of the injuries occurred at home and on the street, during school term, working day, and between 3-8 pm. Twenty two percent of them needed hospitalization. Another 200 patients, matched sex and age range (mean age 6.38 +/- 3.8 year) from the general out patient department were selected as controls. Parents or care providers were interviewed. The result showed that boys, children older than 6 years of age not attending school, higher rank of order of the child in the family, large family size, the more care providers at the time, parental education lower than primary school level and low family income were risk factors of injury in these children (OR = 1.8, 2.4, 1.6-2.7, 1.7-3.3, 6.2, 2.1, 1.8 and 2.4 respectively).