Interventions to Prevent Unintentional Injuries Among Adolescents: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Abstract

Globally, every day, ∼2,300 children and adolescents succumb to unintentional injuries sustained from motor vehicle collisions, drowning, poisoning, falls, burns, and violence. The rate of deaths due to motor vehicle injuries in adolescents is 10.2 per 100,000 adolescents. We systematically reviewed published evidence to identify interventions to prevent unintentional injuries among adolescents aged 11–19 years. We defined unintentional injuries as a subset of injuries for which there was no evidence of predetermined intent, and the definition included motor vehicle injuries, suffocation, drowning, poisoning, burns, falls, and sports and recreation. Thirty-five studies met study eligibility criteria. The included studies focused on interventions to prevent motor vehicle injuries and sports-related injuries. Results suggest that possession of a graduated driver license (GDL) significantly reduced road accidents by 19% (relative risk [RR]: .81; 95% confidence interval [CI]: .75–.88; n = 5). There was no impact of GDL programs on incidence of injuries (RR: .78; 95% CI: .57–1.06; n = 2), helmet use (RR: 1.0; 95% CI: .98–1.02; n = 3), and seat belt use (RR: .99; 95% CI: .97–1.0; n = 3). Sports-related injury prevention interventions led to reductions in the incidence of injuries (RR: .66; 95% CI: .53–.82; n = 15), incidence of injury per hour of exposure (RR: .63; 95% CI: .47–.86; n = 5), and injuries per number of exposures (RR: .79; 95% CI: .70–.88; n = 4). Subgroup analysis according to the type of interventions suggests that training ± education and the use of safety equipment had significant impacts on reducing the incidence of injuries. We did not find any study focusing on interventions to prevent suffocation, drowning, poisoning, burns, and falls in the adolescent age group. The existing evidence is mostly from high-income countries, limiting the generalizability of these findings for low- and middle-income countries. Studies evaluating these interventions need to be replicated in a low- and middle-income country–context to evaluate effectiveness with standardized outcome measures.

Improving Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health: A Systematic Review of Potential Interventions

“…This article is part of a series of reviews conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of potential interventions for adolescent health and well-being. A detailed framework, methodology, and other potential interventions have been discussed in separate articles [22], [23], [24], [25], [26], [27], [28]. This article aims to assess the impact of interventions to improve sexual and reproductive health, prevent adolescent pregnancy; FGM/C; and intimate partner violence.…”

Adolescents’ Psychological Functioning And Unintentional Injuries: Motor Vehicles And Sports Accidents

“…Indeed, most personal difficulties are modifiable for prevention and intervention (Nilsson, Stigson, Ohlin, & Strandroth, 2017;Salam et al, 2016) and many problems can be solved through an early assessment and treatment nowadays.…”

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“…Among the multiple behaviours that can contribute to serious health problems among adolescents, those resulting in unintentional injuries deserve particular attention, because of their short and long-term effects (Beck et al, 2016;Salam et al, 2016).…”

“…These can include burns, falls, motor vehicle injuries, sports and recreation accidents (Chandran, Hyder, & Peek-Asa, 2010;Salam et al, 2016). Unintentional injuries represent a complex phenomenon in which it is possible to track down a variety of features.…”

“…The most worrying, indeed, is that of late more than 2, 000 http: //dx.doi.org/10.15405/ejsbs.217 eISSN: 2301-2218 responsibility of the Editors 2456 children and adolescents have lost their lives due to unintentional injuries, with an estimated rate of death of adolescents aged 11-19 years in motor vehicle crashes at 10.2 per 100,000 (Salam et al, 2016).…”