Injury-related pediatric mortality in Shiraz, Iran: A community-based survey

Abstract

Background: Childhood and adolescent injuries are among the most significant health system hazards, especially in developing countries including Iran. In this report, we evaluated the main characteristics of all cases of pediatric injury-related mortality in Shiraz in a 5 - year - period. Methods: This cross - sectional study comprised all injury- related deaths in children and adolescents up to 18 years of age, from September 2011 to September 2016 in Shiraz, Iran. The required information about demographic factors including age, sex, cause of death, the manner and location of death and time period between injury and death was collected for all the cases. Results: There were 485 cases (66% male) with mean age of 8.7±5.9 years. The crude mortality rate was 21.6 per 100000 population in each year. Infants had the lowest rate during the first year (6.4%) and children between 1 to 4 years had the highest rate of death (28.7%). Accident was the most common manner of death occurring in 393 (81.0%) followed by suicide in 58 (12.0%) decedents. Mortality due to electrical injury, traffic accidents, falling down, burns, drowning and blunt trauma were morecommonin the 1 - 4 years age group. Suffocation, poisoning, work accident and firearm were the most common cause of death in 15 - 18 year - old children. Except for aspiration, firearm and penetrating trauma, all other causes were more common in boys. The most common location of death was at the scene of injury (48 %). The majority of deaths occurred in the first 6 hours after injury (311 cases, 64.1%). Conclusions: Most cases of pediatric injury - related mortality were secondary to preventable injuries and occurred during the first 6 hours and before arriving at the hospital. Thus, injuries should be considered as one of the priorities of the health system and preventive measures such as educating the caregivers regarding these events should be emphasized.