Abstract
The study aimed to provide estimates of the prevalence and psychosocial correlates of unintentional injury among school-going adolescents in Malaysia. Cross-sectional data from the Global School-Based Health Survey (GSHS) included 21,699 students (predominantly ≤13 to ≥17 years) that were selected by a two-stage cluster sample design to represent all secondary school students in Forms 1 to 5. The percentage of school children reporting one or more serious injuries in the past year was 34.9%, 42.1% of boys and 27.8% of girls. The two major causes of the most serious injury were “fall” (9.9%) and motor vehicle accident or being hit by a motor vehicle (5.4%), and the most frequent type of injury sustained was cut, puncture, or stab wound (6.2%) and a broken bone or dislocated joint (4.2%). In multivariable logistic regression analysis, sociodemographic factors (being male and low socioeconomic status), substance use (tobacco and cannabis use), frequent soft drink consumption, attending physical education classes three or more times a week, other risky behavior (truancy, ever having had sex, being bullied), psychological distress, and lack of parental or guardian bonding were associated with annual injury prevalence. Several factors were identified, which could be included in injury prevention promotion programs among secondary school children.
Highlights
Unintentional injuries are a major cause of disability and death among adolescents and youth, in particular in developing countries, including South Asia [1,2]
In multivariable logistic regression analysis, sociodemographic factors, substance use, frequent soft drink consumption, attending physical education classes three or more times a week, other risk behavior, psychological distress, and lack of parental or guardian bonding were associated with annual injury prevalence
In terms of main specific types of injuries, older age (16 or 17 years or older), being male, substance use, frequent soft drink consumption, truancy, and psychological distress were associated with motor vehicle-related injuries
Summary
Unintentional injuries are a major cause of disability and death among adolescents and youth, in particular in developing countries, including South Asia [1,2]. There is a lack of data on the national injury prevalence and its psychosocial correlates among adolescents in Malaysia. The prevalence of one or more serious injuries in the past year among adolescents in Asian countries was 19.7% in China [5], 45.9% in Indonesia [6], 20.3% in Iran [7], 27.0% in Myanmar [6], 37.2% in Sri Lanka [6], 27.3% in Taiwan [8], and 46.8% in Thailand [6]. In an adult community-based survey, the injury prevalence over the past two weeks was 3.1% in Malaysia [9]. The occurance of drowning in children (death and non-death) was estimated to be five per 100,000 in Malaysia [10], and the road traffic fatality rate in Malaysia in the age group (15–18 years old) was 3.9 per
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