Study on the status of unintentional injuries in children under age 7 in Guangzhou / 中华流行病学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To understand the pravelence and distribution of unintentional injuries in children under age 7 in Guangzhou. Methods Data was descriptively analyzed from the Guangzhou Unintentional Injuries Surveillance System among 470 770 children under age 7 living scatterly or collectively. Results The incidence rates of unintentional injuries among children in Guangzhou was 1.48%, among which the incidence rates were: living scatterly as 1.11% living collectively as 1.66%, living in urban areas as 1.36% in rural as 2.52%. In order, the proportion of main causes of children's unintentional injuries were as follows: falls (70.54%), animal injuries (8.48%), burn and scald (5.75%), blunt force injuries (3.92%) , and road traffic injuries (RTIs) (3.48%). The main body parts being injured were head and face (60.00%) , wrist and hand (15.48%), knee and leg (11.70%), elbow and forearm (4.54%), shoulder and arm (2.99%). The degrees of children's unintentional injuries were as follows: mild impairment (85.35%), moderate impairment (9.12%) , and severe impairment (0.57%). Places that the patients went were as follows: hospital outpatient department or emergency room (49.66%), inpatient department or ICU (2.06%), home and kindergarten (43.34%). Conclusion The overall incidence rate of children' s unintentional injuries under age 7 in Guangzhou was 1.48%, with main causes as fall, animal injuries,burn and scald, blunt force injuries, and RTIs. There were considerable differences of characteristics and distributions on age and areas among the patients.