The epidemiological features and relational factors of accidental death among children under 5 years of age in rural Shaanxi Province / 西安交通大学学报(医学版)

ABSTRACT

【Objective】 To explore the epidemiological features and relational factors of accidental death among children under 5 years of age in rural area of Shaanxi Province. 【Methods】 A case-control study was conducted in the research, and children under 5 years old in nine National surveillance counties of Shaanxi were collected. The questionnaire of national survey of accidental injuries among children under 5 years of age was used to investigate the basic information of children, socio-demographic characteristics, child care status, injury occurrence condition. The mean, standard deviation and percentage were used to describe the basic situation and main characteristics of accidental death. The Chi-square test and Logistic regression methods were performed to explore the relational factors of accidental death of children. 【Results】 Of the 25 cases of accidental death of children under the age of five years old, 5 were traffic accidents (20.0%), 9 cases were falling (36.0%), and 11 were suffocation (44.0%). Age distribution showed that children of accidental suffocation were younger, with 90.9% (10 cases) of them under the age of 1 years old. Gender distribution showed that traffic accident deaths occurred to boys. Area distribution showed that falling and suffocation death mainly happened in Hanzhong, while traffic accidents death mainly in Weinan. When the accident happened, 8 caregivers were not on the scene. What was worse, among 17 caregivers who were on the scene of accident, only 4 kept an eye on children. Compared with 25 children in control group, 16 in case group had received health examination, and the difference showed statistical significance (χ2=8.672, P=0.003). Meanwhile, 9 main caregivers were mothers in the case group, compared with 14 in the control group. The Logistic regression analysis showed that compared with fathers, mothers as the children’ main caregivers could positively reduce accidental death of children (OR=0.016, 95% CI 0.000 3-0.997, P=0.049). 【Conclusion】 To decrease the incidence rate and mortality of accidental death of children under the age of five years old, parenting behavior guidance, health examination, and targeted health education should be taken in Maternal and Child Health Care System as a routine work.