Unintentional injury mortality among children under age five in urban and rural areas in the Sichuan province of west China, 2009\u20132017

Minghong Yao,Juying Zhang,Ziling Zhao,Min Luo,Gonghua Wu

doi:10.1038/s41598-019-38936-6

Minghong Yao, Juying Zhang + Show 3 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-38936-6

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Abstract

This study analysed trends in the unintentional injuries specific mortality rates among children under age five (UI-specific U5MRs) in urban and rural areas in the Sichuan province of western China. Data were obtained from the National Health Statistics Survey System. The Cochran-Armitage trend test was used to analyse the trends in UI-specific U5MRs and the proportion of unintentional injury deaths to total deaths. The Poisson regression model was used to compare the UI-specific U5MRs between rural and urban areas. The overall UI-specific U5MRs decreased from 3.8 to 1.7 per 1,000 live births from 2009 to 2017, with an average annual decline in the rates of 8.78% and 10.05% in urban and rural areas, respectively. The UI risk of death in rural areas was approximately 1.95 times that in urban areas (95% CI: 1.73–2.18; p < 0.01). A total of 49.9% of all the children in the study did not receive any treatment before death caused by UI. The UI-specific U5MRs significantly declined in Sichuan province from 2009 to 2017, but large disparities in UI-specific U5MRs in urban and rural areas still exist. Reducing the U5MRs due to UI should be a major public health concern in western China.

Highlights

Unintentional injuries (UI) have become a hot topic in the field of public health because of their high disability and mortality[3]
We describe the profile of UI-specific U5MRs in Sichuan province from 2009 to 2017, analysing the main causes of UI among
The proportion of unintentional injury deaths refers to the proportion of deaths directly caused by unintentional injuries among the total number of deaths among children under age five

Summary

Result

Trends and composition of the UI-specific U5MRs. The overall proportion of UI deaths to total deaths increased decreased from from. The average numbers dying from accidental asphyxia every month are highest in autumn (October and November) and winter (December, January and February) in both urban and rural areas (Fig. 4). The overall proportion of children who sought medical services at the district/county level or higher hospitals increased from 12.6% in 2009 to 28.6% in 2017, and the rate of increase in urban areas (from 9.9% in 2009 to 34.9% in 2017) was significantly higher than in rural areas (from 13.4% in 2009 to 25.5% in 2017). The proportion of children who did not receive any medical attention showed a downward trend, the proportion was still large in 2017 (overall: 49.9%, urban: 45.8%, rural: 51.9%)

Discussion

Findings

Limitations