[Review of injuries leading to death in children aged 1to59 months in the area covered by Shahid Beheshti university of medical sciences from March 2011- March 2013]

ABSTRACT

Injuries have been identified as one of the most important causes of disability and death in humans, and children are more vulnerable to injuries than adults because of limitations in the detection of risk. The present study aimed to investigate the children aged 1 to 59 months death due to injuries cases in the area covered by the Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences. This survey was a cross-sectional and descriptive study conducted during the years 2011 to 2013. In this study all of the children aged 1 to 59 months deaths due to injuries cases that have occurred in the area covered by Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences were studied. Required data was extracted from registration forms of the child health office of Ministry of Health and Medical Education. The total number of deaths due to injuries recorded for children aged 1 to 59 month was 103. The most common causes of death were transport accidents, falls, drowning and respiratory obstruction. The highest frequency of death was observed in the children aged 1 to12months [24.3%]. More than half of the children who died were boys [54.4%]. Approximately 70% of deaths due to injuries in children aged1to 59 months were due to the four following causes transport accidents, falls, drowning and respiratory obstruction. All of these causes are preventable, thus, designing interventions in order to reduce children's deaths is essential and should be considered as a priority by the national health planners.