Childhood accidents in an urban community in Kenya

A retrospective study was conducted over a twenty-month period from March 1991 to October 1992. The purpose of the study was to determine the types and causes of domestic accidents/injuries in the city of Nairobi. A total of 9,648 case files were perused and out of this figure 52% or 5009 records belonged to persons aged below 18 years. The male:female ratio was 1.6:1. Burns were identified as the most prevalent type of injury (37%) followed by cuts/wounds (24.9%) and body swellings (4.9%). The main causes of these accidents were: fire, falls inside and outside the house and cutting implements. These results are only an index to a problem that has been given little prominence in the field of public health.