Paediatric injury in Beirut: a multicentre retrospective chart review study

Abstract

Objective This study aims to assess the epidemiology of paediatric injury in Beirut, giving insights into their characteristics, contributing risk factors and outcomes. Design and setting A retrospective study was conducted to review medical charts for children aged 0–15 years presented to five hospital emergency departments (ED) located in Beirut over a 1-year period (June 2017–May 2018). Participants A total of 1142 trauma-related visits for children under 15 years of age were included. A descriptive analysis and a bivariate analysis were performed to investigate admitted and treated/discharged patients. Primary outcome A logistic regression was conducted to identify factors associated with hospital admission among injured children. Results A total of 1142 cases of paediatric injury ED cases were sampled, mean age was 7.7±4.35 years. Children aged 0–5 years accounted for more than one-third of the total cases, 40.0% (206/516) of the fall injuries and 60.1% (220/366) of home injuries. The leading cause of paediatric injury was fall (45.2%), nearly 4.1% of the cases were admitted to hospitals. Factors associated with admission included injury to abdomen (OR=8.25 (CI 1.11 to 61.24)), to upper extremity (OR=5.79 (CI 2.04 to 16.49)), to lower extremity (OR=5.55 (95% CI 2.02 to 15.20) and other insurance type (OR=8.33 (CI 2.19 to 31.67)). The three types of injuries mostly associated with hospital admission were fracture (OR=13.55 (CI 4.77 to 38.44)), concussion (OR=13.60 (CI 2.83 to 65.41)) and organ system injury (OR=31.63 (CI 3.45 to 290.11)). Conclusions Injury remains a major health problem among the paediatric population in Lebanon. Parental child safety educational programmes and age-targeted injury prevention strategies should be initiated and implemented to mitigate the burden of child injuries and improve child safety and well-being.