Children Domestic Accidents Profile in Jazan Region, a call for new policies to improve safety of home environment

Khalid Ghailan; Mohammed J Almalki; Abdulrahman M Jabour; Hussain Al-Najjar; Abdulrahman Khormi; Hadi Magfori; Nabil Dhayhi; Alkhansa Alshabi

doi:10.1016/j.sjbs.2020.11.074

Children Domestic Accidents Profile in Jazan Region, a call for new policies to improve safety of home environment

Saudi J Biol Sci. 2021 Feb;28(2):1380-1382. doi: 10.1016/j.sjbs.2020.11.074. Epub 2020 Dec 1.

Authors

Khalid Ghailan¹, Mohammed J Almalki², Abdulrahman M Jabour³, Hussain Al-Najjar¹, Abdulrahman Khormi¹, Hadi Magfori¹, Nabil Dhayhi⁴, Alkhansa Alshabi⁵

Affiliations

¹ Epidemiology Department, Faculty of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, Jazan University, Jazan, Saudi Arabia.
² Health Management and Policies Department, Faculty of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, Jazan University, Jazan, Saudi Arabia.
³ Health Informatics Department, Faculty of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, Jazan University, Jazan, Saudi Arabia.
⁴ King Fahad Central Hospital in Jazan, MOH, Saudi Arabia.
⁵ MLT, Faculty of Applied Medical Sciences in Jazan University, Jazan, Saudi Arabia.

Abstract

High-frequency home accidents draw more attention to the protection of our home environment. WHO has reported that home deaths were among the first 20 causes of death in the 0-14 age group worldwide in 2012. This innovative research was designed to examine children under 15 years of age at home, in 2018 in the Jazan area of Saudi Arabia. Data were collected retrospectively from 19 hospitals in the Jazan area of southern Saudi Arabia during the period from September to December 2019. Data showed that, for the first time, the incidence rate of child home incidents in the Jazan area was 7.4 per 100 children in 2018. Falling, burning, swallowing foreign bodies, and domestic violence were among the most common types of injuries recorded. Home safety continued to be one of the main public health issues in the area with 29,812 home injuries in 1 year, 36.8% bone fractures, 31.6% body distortions, 9.2% distortion fractures and 5.3% child impairment. This study is a crucial step towards addressing the severity of home accidents in Saudi Arabia; troubling figures need further analysis, regular registry, informed policies and well-planned action to avoid these types of accidents.

Keywords: Children injuries; Children injuries prevention policies; Epidemiology of child home accidents; Pediatric health; Safety in home environment; Type of children home accidents.