Paediatric Trauma Epidemiology

Background to the Paper

Trauma is a major childhood disease in developed countries, responsible for permanent morbidity and death after the first year of life. It is the second cause of death in developing nations at 38.8% after infectious diseases (Holland, 2005). The problem of paediatric trauma has not been adequately studied in developing countries. In India, the knowledge of the burden of paediatric trauma is dismal because of the deficit in its epidemiologic knowledge. Therefore, the study by Sharma et al. (2011) sought to establish the relationship between the prevalence of paediatric trauma and the epidemiologic parameters, including age, sex, site of occurrence, type of trauma, and mortality.

The value of the information obtained from this study will guide various strategies aimed at preventing the occurrence of paediatric trauma. Such prevention strategies include educational campaigns, policy development, and improvements in trauma care centres (Roberts, Campbell & Hollis, 1996). With the knowledge of the prevalence and incidence of trauma in childhood, appropriate measures will be put in place by the stakeholders of children’s wellbeing, including parents, to mitigate the incidence of injuries to different children based on their age and sex.

The paper addresses paediatric trauma in India with the focus on epidemiologic factors that determine the nature, location of the incidence, and role of sex and age in the occurrence of childhood trauma. Different causes of trauma in children include falls, traffic accidents, burns, injuries in sports, assaults, poisoning, stings, and bites. Trauma in this population occurred in different sites, including parks, homes, school premises, and farms, among others. According to Sharma et al. (2011), paediatric trauma is most prevalent in school-going children and is more prevalent in males than in females.

The prevalence of different forms of trauma differed based on the age of the population. Generally, the most common form of trauma was orthopedic at 37.8%, while nonorthopedic injuries, including head and abdominal injuries, were common in school-going children, whereas burns were the commonest in toddlers. Falls, road accidents, and burns are the most common causes of trauma in children in descending order. Some trauma was inflicted on the children intentionally, although most was unintentional. The commonest site of incidence of trauma in childhood is at home, the stairs, and terraces.

The most common cause of trauma is a fall. Road accidents were the second most common cause of trauma and affected mostly school-going children. For road traffic accident-associated trauma, the most common risk factor is walking on the side of the road, followed by riding a two-wheeled mode of transport, and then a four-wheeled mode of transport. Different causes of burns include hot liquids, flames, and electricity descending in order of prevalence in the most affected age group, toddlers. Poisoning, as a cause of trauma, was most prevalent in preschool children than in any other age group, with 71.73% of the participants being of preschool age (Sharma et al., 2011). Children between the ages of  nd 3 had the highest rate of mortality at 39.21%, seconded by infants at 15.38% (Sharma et al., 2011). Road traffic accidents were the major cause of trauma that led to the deaths of the victims at 35.29%. The other common causes of trauma leading to mortality are burns and falls at 27.45% and 15.68% respectively (Sharma et al., 2011).

Conclusion

In conclusion, the research question of the paper is important in characterising the problem of paediatric trauma, increasing the knowledge on the causes with the highest mortality so that policies can be bedevelopedd to reduce the issue. The paper also highlights the risk factors for trauma in childhood, including terraces, stairs, trees, and the transport sector. The knowledge of epidemiologic parameters of paediatric trauma would inform policies and education campaigns to reduce the prevalence of paediatric trauma. It will benefit the community as a whole (Hefny, Grivna, Abbas & Branicki, 2012).  

References

Hefny, AF., Grivna, M., Abbas, AK., & Branicki, FJ., 2012. Pediatric trauma research in the Gulf Cooperation Council countries. Asian Journal of Surgery, 35 (2), pp. 74-80.

Holland, A.J., 2005. Paediatric trauma. J. Paediatric. Child Health 41, pp. 623-624.

Roberts, I., Campbell, F., & Hollis, S., 1996. Reducing accident death rates in children and young adults: the contribution of hospital care. Br. Med. .J., 313, pp. 1239-41.

Sharma, M., Lahoti, BB.B.B.K.andelwal, G., Mathur, R.K., & Laddha, A., 2011. Epidemiologic trends of pediatric trauma: A single-center study of 791 patients. J Indians Assoc Pediatr Surg, 16 (3), pp. 88-92.