Determining factors of domestic accidents in early childhood

Abstract

Introduction: Domestic accidents are one of the main causes of death among children, characterized by an event that involves multiple determinants, emphasizing, among others, intrapersonal, interpersonal, cultural and institutional factors. Objective: To analyse the determinants of domestic accidents in early childhood.Methods: This is an exploratory, descriptive, and cross-sectional study carried out in the Emergency Hospital of Teresina city, Piauí, Brazil, between January and March 2016. The population was composed of 21 caregivers of children under five years old, hospitalized between January and March 2016. For data collection, a structured interview was conducted on aspects related to the risk factors associated with the incidence of domestic accidents involving children. A descriptive analysis was performed, with absolute and relative frequencies for the variables. The Human Research Ethics Committee approved the research with Protocol No. 1324184. Results: In relation to intrapersonal factors, pre-school children were the main victims (57.2%). For interpersonal factors, it was observed that most of participants (85.7%) considered the household unsafe for children. The evaluation of institutional factors showed that most caregivers (52.4%) had not been advised about the prevention of accidents at home. In terms of cultural factors, most participants (81%) had not heard news about domestic accidents. Conclusion: Parents and caregivers have very limited knowledge about the prevention of childhood accidents at home, with male pre-schoolers the main victims of domestic accidents.

Prevention of domestic child accidents: an educational intervention conducted by Speech Therapy trainees in a Family Health Care Unit

“…Concerning the education of the caregivers, there was predominance of incomplete fundamental school education, alike a similar study 17 . The literature 18,19 classifies the caregivers' low level of education as a predisposing factor to the occurrence of child accidents.…”

“…The scientific evidences have shown that women are mainly the ones who take children to health services 16 . The same way, a research conducted in the Pediatric Clinic of the Urgency Hospital of Teresina, Piauí, with caretakers of children who were hospitalized because of domestic accidents, showed that all the companions were women 17 . These two studies showed women's protagonism in accompanying children in health services, therefore they can be the target public of the activities of prevention of child accidents in these services 16,17 .…”

Caregivers’ Perception of Unintentional Child and Adolescent Injuries in Enugu, Nigeria

“…The males also tended to be more involved in injuries as equally observed in the current study cohort. Domestic environment could play a significant role particularly in-home accidents [5], and poisoning [5]. In the current study, the nature/place of residence significantly determined a child's proneness to injury as most of the injuries occurred in children living in rural areas with possibility of overcrowding and lack of safety devices in the households.…”

“…It has been reported that 90 percent of these deaths amounting to about 830, 000 cases are as a result of unintentional injuries and this equals the number of children dying from complications of some common vaccine-preventable diseases including measles, diphtheria, polio, whooping cough and tetanus combined [4]. Domestic injuries including cuts, falls, burns, poisoning, animal/insect bites; injuries occurring at school, workplace injuries, injuries due to war and conflict including insurgency, and child abuse contribute to the total burden of injuries among children [1] [3], with majority occurring at home [5] [6].…”

Translational medicine and its contribution to public health

“…In the current issue of JHGD these studies evaluate technologies that involve the improvement of health conditions and/or issues for public health investigating the health situation of the population, especially children and adolescents [8][9][10] , which corroborate the themes in the health promotion field within the context of primary care focusing on teens and their vulnerabilities [11][12][13] , nutrition and influence on child and adolescent development [14][15][16][17][18] and themes focused on translational medicine, describing results to improve the health indicators of the population [19][20][21][22] . With an emphasis on nutritional status, to highlight obesity in adolescents, Tebar et al 17 found the prevalence of abdominal obesity in adolescents in the city of Londrina, Paraná, Brazil, and its associated factors.…”