The impact of parental migration on injuries among left behind young people aged 10 years to 24 years in Botswana

Abstract

There has been little evidence of the relationship between children and absence of parents in Botswana literature; and it is still the case that absence of parents increases the risk of injuries to their children. The aim of this study is to investigate the impact of parental migration among left behind young people aged 10 years to 24 years in Botswana and examine patterns of injuries from immigrant families. This is a population-based cross-section from which a dataset was created by compiling data from two different sources for the period of 2010 to 2015. All the variables were transformed into natural logarithms so as to avoid outliers and normalize the variables. All statistical modeling was carried out using Statistical Analysis System version 6.1. Left behind young people were associated with higher risk of injuries especially in motor vehicle accidents 391(40%), fire 264 (27%), and burns 162 (16%) except for drowning, machinery and poisoning. Parental migration is the most important issue in the total number of injuries. Correlation coefficient shows that non-left behind, the greater the chance to be classified under the poisoning cases (r = 0.888) and is lower compared to the left behind (r = 0.471). This study shows clearly that injuries take an insufficiently high toll on children's health and on society. Additionally, if parental migration trends continue, Botswana's burden of injuries are expected to rise in the next 10 years.