Incidence and risk factors of non-fatal injuries in Chinese children aged 0-6 years: a case-control study.

Abstract

To identify the incidence and related risk factors of injuries in pre-school children aged 0-6 years in China. Children with non-fatal injuries (n=122) were matched to healthy controls by sex, age, community of residency and history of injury. Conditional multiple logistic regression analysis was performed to estimate the odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). The overall incidence of injuries was 3.3%. After adjustment for all selected variables, the risk factors for childhood injuries included father's occupation as a self-employed person (OR: 5.7, 95% CI: 1.8-18.5), child's active temperament type (OR: 2.8, 95% CI: 1.5-5.3), inappropriate storage of medicines (OR: 3.1, 95% CI: 1.3-6.9) and inappropriate placement of heating equipment (OR: 2.1, 95% CI: 1.0-4.4). The protective factors included children's acquirement of safety education from their teachers at school (OR: 0.03, 95% CI: 0.01-0.2), and from their parents (OR: 0.08, 95% CI: 0.02-0.3). Interventions targeting the risk factors specifically may help prevent and reduce the occurrence of injuries in young children.