TY - JOUR
T1 - Descriptive Epidemiology of Unintentional Childhood Injuries in India
T2 - An ICMR Taskforce Multisite Study
AU - ICMR Taskforce on Childhood Injuries
AU - Nooyi, Shalini C.
AU - Sonaliya, K. N.
AU - Dhingra, Bhavna
AU - Roy, Rabindra Nath
AU - Indumathy, P.
AU - Soni, R. K.
AU - Kumar, Nithin
AU - Chudasama, Rajesh K.
AU - Kumar, Ch Satish
AU - Singh, Amit Kumar
AU - Mohan, Venkata Raghava
AU - Bs, Nanda Kumar
AU - Mishra, Devendra
AU - Gururaj, G.
AU - Aggarwal, Kiran
AU - Gupta, Piyush
AU - Lodha, Rakesh
AU - Sarin, Y. K.
N1 - Funding Information:
Pankaj Gupta, ICMR, New Delhi. Kaushal Swaroop S, Kavin Corporation, Bangalore.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021, Indian Academy of Pediatrics.
PY - 2021/6
Y1 - 2021/6
N2 - Background: Children 0–14 years constitute about 31.4% of Indian population, among whom the magnitude and risk factors of childhood injuries have not been adequately studied. Objective: To study the prevalence of and assess the factors associated with unintentional injuries among children aged 6 month–18 years in various regions. Methodology: This multi-centric, cross-sectional, community-based study was conducted at 11 sites across India. States included were Gujarat, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Uttarakhand, and West Bengal between March, 2018 and September, 2020. A total of 2341 urban and rural households from each site were selected based on probability proportionate to size. The World Health Organization (WHO) child injury questionnaire adapted to the Indian settings was used after validation. Information on injuries was collected for previous 12 months. Definitions for types (road traffic accidents, falls, burns, poisoning, drowning, animal-related injuries) and severity of injuries was adapted from the WHO study. Information was elicited from parents/primary caregivers. Data were collected electronically, and handled with a management information system. Results: In the 25751 households studied, there were 31020 children aged 6 months–18 years. A total of 1452 children (66.1% males) had 1535 unintentional injuries (excluding minor injuries) had occurred in the preceding one year. The overall prevalence of unintentional injuries excluding minor injuries was 4.7% (95% CI: 4.4–4.9). The commonest type of injury was fall-related (842, 54.8%) and the least common was drowning (3, 0.2%). Injuries in the home environment accounted for more than 50% of cases. Conclusions: The findings of the study provide inputs for developing a comprehensive child injury prevention policy in the country. Child safe school with age-appropriate measures, a safe home environment, and road safety measures for children should be a three-pronged approach in minimizing the number and the severity of child injuries both in urban and rural areas.
AB - Background: Children 0–14 years constitute about 31.4% of Indian population, among whom the magnitude and risk factors of childhood injuries have not been adequately studied. Objective: To study the prevalence of and assess the factors associated with unintentional injuries among children aged 6 month–18 years in various regions. Methodology: This multi-centric, cross-sectional, community-based study was conducted at 11 sites across India. States included were Gujarat, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Uttarakhand, and West Bengal between March, 2018 and September, 2020. A total of 2341 urban and rural households from each site were selected based on probability proportionate to size. The World Health Organization (WHO) child injury questionnaire adapted to the Indian settings was used after validation. Information on injuries was collected for previous 12 months. Definitions for types (road traffic accidents, falls, burns, poisoning, drowning, animal-related injuries) and severity of injuries was adapted from the WHO study. Information was elicited from parents/primary caregivers. Data were collected electronically, and handled with a management information system. Results: In the 25751 households studied, there were 31020 children aged 6 months–18 years. A total of 1452 children (66.1% males) had 1535 unintentional injuries (excluding minor injuries) had occurred in the preceding one year. The overall prevalence of unintentional injuries excluding minor injuries was 4.7% (95% CI: 4.4–4.9). The commonest type of injury was fall-related (842, 54.8%) and the least common was drowning (3, 0.2%). Injuries in the home environment accounted for more than 50% of cases. Conclusions: The findings of the study provide inputs for developing a comprehensive child injury prevention policy in the country. Child safe school with age-appropriate measures, a safe home environment, and road safety measures for children should be a three-pronged approach in minimizing the number and the severity of child injuries both in urban and rural areas.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85109146467&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85109146467&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s13312-021-2233-3
DO - 10.1007/s13312-021-2233-3
M3 - Article
C2 - 34176793
AN - SCOPUS:85109146467
SN - 0019-6061
VL - 58
SP - 517
EP - 524
JO - Indian Pediatrics
JF - Indian Pediatrics
IS - 6
ER -
