Childhood injuries in rural north India

This article reports the results of 100% household injury surveillance project conducted over a 1-year period in nine contiguous villages with a total population of 22,883 persons in north India. Fourteen trained field workers did the health and injury survey by visiting 16-20 households every day. In this article, we document the epidemiology of injuries among children in rural households. A person was considered injured if the injury prevented the victim from continuing a normal daily routine as understood by the family and the victim. A total of 2029 injury cases were recorded. Children in the age group 0-14 years accounted for 611 (30%) of all injury cases of which 42% were injured at home (28% for >14 years), 35% on roads (30% for >14 years), 8% on farms (31% for >14 years) and 6% on playgrounds. The maximum number of injuries was due to falls (35%). Eighty per cent of the injuries were minor (Abbreviated Injury Scale (AIS) 1), 18% were moderate or serious (AIS 2-3); none were severe (AIS 4) and one child had a critical injury (AIS 5). The injury rates per 100,000 children in different age groups were 5354, 6962 and 8060 for 0-4, 5-9 and 10-14 years per year.