Characteristics and trends for injury caused by fall in 0−14 year old children in Anhui, 2006−2020

  Objective  To understand the epidemiological characteristics and trends of injury caused by fall in children in Anhui province from 2006 to 2020 and provide evidence for the development of prevention and control measures and strategies.

  Methods  Six sentinel hospitals from two national injury surveillance areas in Anhui were selected to collect the incidence data of injury caused by fall in children aged 0–14 years from 2006 to 2020. Statistical software was used to analyze the trend of proportion of cases of injury caused by fall and the annual percent change (APC) was calculated to evaluate the change trend of injury caused by fall in the children.

  Results  A total of 36372 cases of injury caused by fall, including 24487 cases in boys and 11885 cases in girls, were reported in children aged 0–14 years in Anhui from 2006 to 2020. The cases in children aged 1–4 years (13280 cases) accounted for the highest proportion (36.51%). The incidence of injury caused by fall in children was highest in September and lowest in February, with daily incidence peak between 10:00 and 17:00. Injury caused by fall mainly occurred at home (47.13%) and in leisure activities (42.07%). The injury sites were mainly head (46.41%), and contusion and abrasions were the most common types (57.1%). Most cases only needed general treatment in hospitals (95.99%). The proportion of the cases of injury caused by fall in children showed an increasing trend from 2006 to 2015 (APC=6.26, P<0.001) and a decreasing trend from 2015 to 2020 (APC=−2.06, P=0.030), but the overall proportion showed an increasing trend from 2006 to 2020 (AAPC=3.21, P<0.001).

  Conclusion  Children aged from 0 to 14 years old are most likely to be injured by fall, and fall prevention measures should be actively developed to reduce the incidence of injury caused by fall in children.