Patterns of childhood injuries

Abstract EN

Objective : To study the patterns of injuries in children in order to suggest possible preventive measures.

Methods : A prospective hospital-based study, analyzing the records of all children with trauma who were seen at the emergency department at Princess Haya Hospital in the south of Jordan over one year from June 1999-May 2000.

One thousand and one hundred fifty two children (3 months to 15 years), in term of age, sex distribution, place, type, mechanism of injury and admission rate we're analyzed.

Results : the study showed that boys.

got injured more often in all age groups, and children between 5-10 years constituted the largest group of injured children.

Falling down was the most frequent cause of injuries followed by road traffic accidents.

Burns and head injuries predominated in children below 5 years (mainly infants) and home was the commonest place of their injuries.

The school age groups (> 5 years) were involved in accidents at school, sport centers and on roads.

Fractures and lacerations constituted the major types of injuries, fractures and sprains predominated in children over 5 years and increased with age.

Admission rate was 18.4 %, which was higher among the age group 5-10 years and was due to falls in 53.8 % and to road traffic accidents in 36.8 %.

Conclusion : this study emphasized the need for urgent work to reduce the preventable causes of trauma.

We recommend future research to identify the common causes of injures among the pediatric population to help the decision makers find out methods to minimize accidental injuries in children.