Patterns of injuries among Children visiting Gondar town public health institutes, Northwest Ethiopia, 2019

Abstract Background: Injuries have been recognized as the leading cause of death in children for nearly 40 years. However, most epidemiological studies of injuries have not been community-based and are limited either to a single type of injury, such as head injuries or burnsor to a specific cause of injury, such as consumer products.Objective: To determine patterns of injuries among children visiting Gondar town public health institutes, Northwest Ethiopia,2019.Methods: An institutional-based prospective cross-sectional study was conductedamong children visiting Gondar town public health institutes of Amhara region, Northwest Ethiopia from June 25 to September 25, 2019. A total of 385 participants were included in the study. Data were entered into Epi-info version 7.2.1 and exported to SPSS version 21.0 for analysis and descriptive statistics were presented in text, tables, charts, and graphs.Result: The majority of the pediatric trauma cases were seen in males 61.8%, (n = 238) and females comprised only 38.2% (n = 147). Stone or stick injury (29.1%) was the most common mode of trauma followed by road traffic injuries (21.0%), falls (19.0%), and burns (14.0%). The majority of injuries happened during playing (53%) and around the home (37.9%). In this study the three top most frequent sites of injuries were: lower extremity injury 167 (43.4%), upper extremity127 (33.0%), and head injury 50 (13.0%). Conclusion and recommendation: The high rate of pediatric trauma from sticks or stones, roadways, and falls highlights the need for increased supervision and identification of specific dangers when playing. In our scenario, a comprehensive trauma registry appears to be critical for developing policies to lessen the burden of pediatric trauma. Further research with large sample size and associated factors for pediatric injuries is recommended.