An epidemiological analysis on external causes of morbidity and mortality for hospitalized children in 22 grade Ⅲ (A) children’s hospitals

  Objective  To explore the distribution of external causes of morbidity and mortality in hospitalized children aged 0–14 years in China and provide reference basis for improving children's health and prevention of accidental injury in children.

  Methods  According to the International Classification of Diseases, 10^th edition (ICD-10) codes for external causes of morbidity and mortality, the patients aged 0–14 years hospitalized due to external causes in 22 grade III (A) children's hospitals in China from 2016 to 2018 were included, and the overall and age or gender specific proportions of external causes were calculated.

  Results  A total of 122 284 cases met the inclusion criteria for analysis, of which 64.20% were boys and 35.98% were girls. Among all categories of external causes of morbidity and mortality, the top five were fall (39.43%), exposure to inanimate mechanical forces (20.34%), injuries to pedestrians in traffic accidents (10.66%), other accidental threats to respiration (10.01%), and exposure to hot and thermal substances (3.41%). There were slight differences in the ranks of external causes between boys and girls and in different age groups, but fall ranked first in all subgroups. On the whole, the absolute number of the cases due to external causes was higher in boys than in girls.

  Conclusion  Through the analysis of a large sample, this study indicated that the major external causes of morbidity and mortality in children aged 0–14 years in China were fall, exposure to inanimate mechanical forces, injuries to pedestrians in traffic accidents, other accidental threats to respiration, and exposure to hot and thermal substances, to which close attention should be paid by all sectors of the society to prevent injury and decrease the morbidity and mortality due to external causes in children.