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Home Accidents among Children: A Retrospective Study at a Tertiary Care Center in Oman
Alya Al Rumhi1, Huda Al Awisi1, Mahmood Al Buwaiqi1
1Nursing Department, Sultan Qaboos University Hospital, Muscat, Oman.
Insights
Unintentional home accidents are common in Omani children presenting to emergency departments (EDs), with falls being the leading cause. These injuries often result in severe harm, highlighting the need for improved child safety awareness and healthcare preparedness.
Area of Science:
- Pediatrics
- Public Health
- Emergency Medicine
Background:
- Home accidents represent a significant cause of pediatric injuries requiring emergency medical attention.
- Understanding the epidemiology of these incidents is crucial for developing targeted prevention strategies.
Purpose of the Study:
- To determine the prevalence, common causes, and severity of home accident injuries in children presenting to an Omani tertiary hospital's emergency department (ED).
Main Methods:
- A retrospective study was conducted on children aged 18 years and younger presenting with home accidents between January and June 2017.
- Data on demographics, accident causes, effects, and outcomes were collected from electronic patient records.
Main Results:
- A total of 1333 children presented with home accidents, constituting 7.7% of all pediatric ED visits.
- Falls were the most frequent cause (53.7%), followed by mechanical forces (15.1%) and poisoning (8.8%).
- Approximately 36.0% of injuries were severe, with 5.4% requiring hospital admission.
Conclusions:
- Home accidents among children in Oman are prevalent and often severe, necessitating enhanced public awareness campaigns for child safety.
- Improved preparedness of emergency department healthcare providers is essential for managing these pediatric injuries effectively.
Objectives:
We sought to identify the prevalence, commonest causes, and severity of home accident injuries and their effects on children who present to the emergency department (ED) of a university-tertiary hospital in Oman.
Methods:
We conducted a retrospective study among children aged ≤ 18 years old who presented with home accidents to the ED between January and June 2017. A checklist for data collection was designed to include demographic data, causes and effects of home accidents, and treatment outcomes. The data was retrieved from the hospital electronic patient records.
Results:
A total of 1333 children presented to the ED over six months as a result of unintentional home accidents, giving a prevalence of 7.7% from all children who visited the ED. There was a significant male to female ratio of 1.7:1. The most prevalent causes for home accidents were 'falls' in 716 (53.7%) children, followed by 'struck by/against-animate/inanimate mechanical force' in 201 (15.1%) children. 'Poisoning' was the third major cause in 117 (8.8%) children. Severity scale showed that around 36.0% of children suffered from severe injuries and 5.4% were admitted to the hospital.
Conclusions:
Despite this study being a single-center study in Oman, it indicates a high prevalence and severity of unintentional home accidents among children. The study findings suggest the need for implementing strategies to raise public awareness of child safety at home and to improve the preparedness of healthcare providers in ED to deal with such accidents.