Non-Fatal Injuries among Preschool Children in Daegu and Kyungpook

Park, Soon Woo; Heo, Youn Jeong; Lee, Sang Won; Park, Jung Han

Abstract

OBJECTIVES
This study was performed to investigate the injury rates and risk factors for preschool children in Daegu city and Kyungpook province. METHOD : A questionnaire survey about medically attended injuries during the preschool period was performed in nine primary schools located in Daegu city, Pohang city and Goryung County. The overall injury rate was estimated using person-year. The causes and patterns of the injuries, and their risk factors were examined. RESULT : A total of 469 medically attended injuries were reported in 330 of the 959 study subjects during the preschool period. The overall annual injury rate was 7.5 per 100 children. The injury rate increased sharply during the period from infant (2.4) to 1 year of age (7.5), and the peak injury rate (9.2) was reported for 5 year olds. The most common causes of injuries were falling (36.0%), followed by being struck by an object (23.7%), and traffic accidents (14.1%). Among the traffic accidents, 72.8% occurred while playing on the road, riding a bicycle or roller-skating. A proportional hazard model showed that males (hazard ratio=1.49, p< 0.001 compared with female) and the mother's higher education level (hazard ratio of college or higher= 1.51, p=0.013; high school=1.32, p=0.085 compared with those of middle school or lower) were significant risk factors of childhood injury. CONCLUSION: The results of this study suggested that efforts for children's safety should be made, especially from the toddler stage, and in male children. To develop a more specific childhood injury prevention program, a surveillance system for injuries should be established. Further study of the relationship between mother's occupation and injury rates is also needed.