Associated factors for the occurrence of unintentional injuries in children from a low-income community in northeastern Brazil

Abstract

Unintentional injuries reach high levels within the scope of morbidity and mortality worldwide, and have an impact on the quality of life of children and family members. This study depicts the socio-demographic profile of families in a community and identifies the factors associated with unintentional injuries in children. This is a cross-sectional study, developed with 362 families from a community in Fortaleza (Ceará State), by applying a questionnaire to the responsible adult in the family; the data were subjected to descriptive statistics by applying Pearson's chi-square (x 2) test, with p ≤ 0.05. From the results, 78% resided in the business area of the community, 71% survived with income up to the minimum wage, 62.7% were part of a nuclear family, and most residences showed risk factors for unintentional injuries. The data corroborate the literature by reaffirming the relationship between the socio-demographic and economic profile of families living in areas of socio-environmental vulnerability with the occurrence of unintentional injuries at home.

Social determinants of health associated with childhood accidents at home: An integrative review

“…Behavioral factors, especially those related to the lack of adult supervision, were identified in a large part of the articles analyz ed (18,23,(25)(26)(28)(29)(30)(31)(32)(33)(36)(37)39,41,43,48) . The main AHs that were related to this determinant were: intoxications; falls and burns (18,21,26,30,32,41,48) .…”

“…Maternal age was also associated with the occurrence of these injuries, since daughters of younger mothers suffered more accidents (20,22,31,36,(38)(39)(40)44) . For children of mothers under 30, the risk of accidents was 1.9 times higher than for children of mothers over 30 (31) .…”

“…Another AH-related factor was the family lifestyle, especially in those with many children or in whom there was only one responsible for the child (father or mother) (32,(38)(39)(40)42) . This evidence may be related with high family stress caused by the excess of activities within the home context, leading to mental distraction of parents (43) .…”

“…This evidence may be related with high family stress caused by the excess of activities within the home context, leading to mental distraction of parents (43) . Thus, having a support network, such as friends and neighbors, can reduce the risk of unintentional injuries in children (36,39) . In this context, there is an association between different types of Intermediate SDH: lifestyle, psychological factors, maternal occupation and social networks.…”

“…In the third theoretical category, "Distal Social Determinants of Health", 27 articles referred to aspects of living and working conditions, general socioeconomic, cultural and environmental conditions identified in the employment of the father/ mother (18,20,(22)(23)(30)(31) , housing (18)(19)(21)(22)(23)(28)(29)(30)(32)(33)(35)(36)(37)39,43,47) , access to health services (19,(21)(22)38) , cultural factors (18,28,30,41,43) , living conditions (19)(20)(22)(23)28,(39)(40)44) , social factors (18)(19)22,26,36,(39)(40)(42)(43) , economic factors (18)…”