J Korean Med Assoc.  2019 May;62(5):283-292. 10.5124/jkma.2019.62.5.283.

Child injury death statistics from 2006 to 2016 in the Republic of Korea

• Vital Statistics Division, Statistics Korea
• Shin HY
• Lee JY
• Kim JE
• Lee S
• Huh S

• KMID: 2445793
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.5124/jkma.2019.62.5.283

Abstract

This study aimed to analyze changing trends in child injury deaths from 2006 to 2016 and to provide basic data for initiatives to help prevent child injury deaths through improvements in social systems and education. Specific causes of death were analyzed using micro-data of the death statistics of Korea from 2006 to 2016, which were made available by Statistics Korea. Types and place of death were classified according to the KCD-7 (Korean Standard Classification of Diseases and Causes of Death). The data were compared to those of other Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development countries. Changing trends were presented. The number of child deaths by injury was 270 in 2016. The death rate was 8.1 per 100,000 population in 2006, while it was 3.9 in 2016. The death rate of boys was 1.7 times greater than that of girls. Unintentional injury deaths comprised 72.6% of all child injury deaths in 2016, while intentional injury deaths comprised 27.4%. The first leading cause of unintentional injury deaths in infants (less than 1-year-old) was suffocation, while that of children aged 1 to 14 years was transport accidents. The second leading cause of death in infants was transport accidents, that of children aged 1 to 4 was falling, and that of children aged 5 to 14 was drowning. Pedestrian accidents comprised 43.7% of the transport accidents from 2014 to 2016. To prevent child injury deaths by both unintentional and intentional causes, nation-wide policy measures and more specific interventions according to cause are required.

Keyword

Child; Cause of death; Drowning; Accidental falls; Self-injurious behavior

MeSH Terms

Accidental Falls
Asphyxia
Cause of Death
Child*
Classification
Drowning
Education
Female
Humans
Infant
Korea
Mortality
Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development
Republic of Korea*
Self-Injurious Behavior

Figure

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  Figure 1 Child injury deaths and death rate from 1996 to 2016 in Korea.

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  Figure 2 Composition of causes of unintentional child injury deaths in 1996, 2006, and 2016 in Korea.

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  Figure 3 Composition of causes of unintentional child injury deaths by age from 2014 to 2016 in Korea.

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  Figure 4 Characteristics of child deaths due to traffic injuries from 2014 to 2016 in Korea. (A) Number of child deaths due to traffic injury by specific cause. (B) Composition of child injury death due to traffic injury by age . (C) Number of child deaths due to traffic injury by time (hours). (D) Number of child deaths due to traffic injury by day.

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  Figure 5 Characteristics of child injury due to suffocation injury from 2014 to 2016 in Korea. (A) Number of child injury deaths due to suffocation injury by specific cause. (B) Composition of child injury death due to suffocation injury by age from 2014 to 2016.

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  Figure 6 Characteristics of child injury due to drowning from 2014 to 2016 in Korea. (A) Number of child injury deaths due to drowning by specific cause. (B) Composition of child injury death due to drowning by age.

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  Figure 7 Characteristics of child injury due to falling injury from 2014 to 2016 in Korea. (A) Number of child injury deaths due to falling injury by specific cause. (B) Composition of child injury death due to falling by age.

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  Figure 8 Change of child injury deaths per 100,000 population in Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development countries in 2005 and 2015 (or most recent year).

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  Figure 9 Unintentional child injury death per 100,000 population in Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development countries in 2005 and 2015 (or most recent year).

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