Disability, Home Physical Environment and Non-Fatal Injuries among Young Children in China

Abstract

ObjectivesWe compared the patterns of medically attended injuries between children with and without disabilities and explored the residential environment risks in five counties of Hubei Province in the People's Republic of China by a 1∶1 matched case-control study based on the biopsychosocial model of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health – ICF.Methods1201 children aged 1–14 with disabilities and 1201 their healthy counterparts matched as having the same gender, same age, and lived in the same neighborhood were recruited in our study. Characteristics of injuries in the past 12 months were compared between children with and without disabilities. The associations among disability status, home environment factors and injuries were examined in logistic regression analysis taking into account sociodemographic factors.ResultsChildren with disabilities had a significantly higher prevalence of injury than children without disabilities (10.2% vs. 4.4%; P<.001). The two groups differed significantly in terms of number of injury episodes, injury place and activity at time of injury. Falls were the leading mechanism of injury regardless of disability status. Most of the injury events happened inside the home and leisure activities were the most reported activity when injured for both groups. The univariate OR for injury was 4.46 (2.57–7.74) for the disabled children compared with the non-disabled children. Disabled children whose family raised cat/dog(s) were 76% more likely to be injured during the last 12 months (OR = 1.76; 95% CI = 1.02, 3.02),comparing with those whose family did not have any cat/dog. And for children without disabilities, those whose family had cat/dog(s) were over 3 times more likely to having injuries comparing with those whose family did not have any cat/dog.ConclusionsChildren with disabilities had a significantly increased risk for injury. Interventions to prevent residential injury are an important public health priority in children with disabilities.

Unintentional injuries among Chinese children with different types and severity of disability

“…Data about injury risk in individuals with disability in China are very limited [23]. Results reported here demonstrated a clear association between disability status (type and severity) and injury risk in this sample of Chinese pediatric population.…”

“…Previous publications that reported an increased risk of injury in children with disability came from high income countries [15,17–22]. In our recent publication about medically attended injuries among Chinese children with disability, we found that injury risk in children with disability is significantly higher than in children without disability [23]. We compared the patterns of injuries between children with and without disability and investigated the association between home environmental hazards and risk of nonfatal injuries.…”

Unintentional injuries in children with disabilities: a systematic review and meta-analysis

“…Geographically, the WHO region of the Americas was heavily represented, with ten studies in USA and one in Canada (Raman et al 2009), and the remaining four studies were from the WHO Asia and Western Pacific region (China, Hong Kong, Iraq, and Australia) (Othman and Kendrick 2013; Sherrard et al 2002; Tsang et al 2012; Zhu et al 2012). No eligible studies were found in the WHO Europe and Africa regions.…”

Characteristics and Relevant Factors of Sports Injury among Rural School-Aged Children in Zunyi, Southwest China: A Cross-Sectional Survey

“…Injuries were defined if it met one of the following criteria: (1) Required medical attention or (2) Activities were restricted and rest was required for at least half a day because of sports injuries during the 12 months before the interview [5,6]. Using multistage cluster sampling, children age 8 to 15-years-old from 11 schools in Zunyi were recruited from June 2014 to July 2015.…”