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Rural-urban differences in children’s musculosceletal injuries in north-eastern Poland
Tomasz Guszczyn1, Justyna Sienkiewicz1, Katarzyna Szymborska1
1Medical University of Białystok, Department of Pediatric Orthopaedics and Traumatology
Insights
Children in rural areas face a higher risk of severe injuries and longer hospital stays compared to urban children. Urban children have a greater risk of less severe injuries, but overall injury severity differs significantly by location.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Traumatology
- Public Health
- Epidemiology
Background:
- Rural and urban environments present distinct risks for pediatric injuries.
- Understanding injury severity differences is crucial for targeted public health interventions.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate rural-urban disparities in pediatric injury severity.
- To analyze age, sex, and hospitalization duration in relation to injury type and location.
- To compare injury risks between rural and urban children in northeastern Poland over two time periods.
Main Methods:
- Retrospective analysis of pediatric orthopedic and trauma admissions (2002-2005 and 2012-2013).
- Classification of injuries into four severity categories.
- Rural-urban division based on population size (>25,000 inhabitants).
- Statistical comparison of hospitalization risks across demographic and geographic groups.
Main Results:
- Urban children had a higher risk of less severe injuries, while rural children faced a higher risk of severe injuries.
- Hospitalization duration was significantly longer for rural children.
- Injury risk patterns remained consistent across both study periods.
- Boys constituted the majority of injured patients in both rural and urban settings.
Conclusions:
- Injury risk analysis requires stratification by injury severity.
- Rural children are at increased risk for severe injuries, permanent disability, and prolonged hospitalization compared to urban children.
- These findings highlight the need for tailored injury prevention strategies in rural and urban pediatric populations.
Objective:
To investigate rural-urban differences in severity of injuries, by means of age, sex and duration of hospitalization of injured children in northeastern Poland.
Methods:
The study included children admitted to the Department of Pediatric Orthopaedics and Traumatology in between 2002-2005 (1322 patients) and 2012-2013 (1725 patients) due to injury. We applied the rural-urban division on the base of number of inhabitants (rural – below, urban – over 25000). We divided injuries into four categories based on severity. Statistical analysis was performed to compare the risk of hospitalization due to different types of injuries among children in different age and sex groups, living in rural and urban areas
Results:
Children from urban areas have a higher risk of hospitalization compared to their peers living in rural areas due to two least severe categories of injuries. Children from rural areas had much higher risk of hospitalization due to most severe injuries. Results were consistent for both time intervals.. The average duration of hospitalization was significantly longer among rural populations. However, in both rural and urban areas the mean length of stay has been shortened in comparison with the years 2002-2005. The average age of urban patients has been reduced over the years and remained stable among rural population. In both groups boys comprised the majority of patients with all kinds of injuries.
Conclusions:
Analysis of the risk of hospitalization among children from rural and urban areas brings constructive conclusions only after applying the division based on severity of injuries. Children living in rural areas and small towns are at a higher risk of suffering severe injuries that pose a risk of permanent disability, and of longer hospitalization because of them, compared to children living in larger cities.
