Factors causing deaths due to injury among children in Bangladesh

Background Child injury has become a public health concern in both developing and developed world. In recent times, injury has been identified as a leading cause for both morbidity and mortality among children. This study has concentrated on a holistic statistical inquest into injuries and deaths among children in Bangladesh.

Methods A population-based cross-sectional survey was conducted between January and December 2003 in Bangladesh. Nationally representative data were collected from 171,366 rural and urban households, with a total sample size of 819,429. A simple association test and the binary logistic regression was designed to identify the factors causing child death due to injury.

Results Drowning found the leading cause of death of children in Bangladesh. Approximately 26% children died from drowning each year. Almost 50% of children died in a year from just because they did not get proper care after getting injured. Mother’s education has a significant influence on child injury and death. The percentage of child death due to injury was the highest from a mother’s lack of awareness and education (54%). The odds of dying due to injury among children of secondary and graduate level educated mothers are respectively 1.4 and 1.6 times more than the odds in the chances of death of an illiterate mother’s child. This may be due to the fact that educated mothers have less time to supervise their children because of their daily activities. It was also found that almost 63% of the children who died from injury were from rural areas.

Conclusion Child injury is an emerging cause of mortality and morbidity in both urban and rural areas of Bangladesh. Children from rural area were the more vulnerable group for different types of injuries compared to urban population. The home is the most common place for injury occurrence.

Acknowledgments The financial support of UNICEF is acknowledged.