Abstract
Background
To prevent school injuries, thorough epidemiological data is an essential foundation. We aimed to investigate the characteristics of school injuries in Asia and explore risk factors for major trauma.
Methods
This retrospective study was conducted in the participating centers of the Pan-Asian Trauma Outcome Study from October 2015 to December 2020. Subjects who reported “school” as the site of injury were included. Major trauma was defined as an Injury Severity Score (ISS) value of ≥16.
Results
In total, 1305 injury cases (1.0% of 127,715 events) occurred at schools. Among these, 68.2% were children. Unintentional injuries were the leading cause and intentional injuries comprised 7.5% of the cohort. Major trauma accounted for 7.1% of those with documented ISS values. Multivariable regression revealed associations between major trauma and factors, including age, intention of injury (self-harm), type of injury (traffic injuries, falls), and body part injured (head, thorax, and abdomen). Twenty-two (1.7%) died, with six deaths related to self-harm. Females represented 28.4% of injuries but accounted for 40.9% of all deaths.
Conclusions
In Asia, injuries at schools affect a significant number of children. Although the incidence of injuries was higher in males, self-inflicted injuries and mortality cases were relatively higher in females.
Impact
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Epidemiological data and risk factors for major trauma resulting from school injuries in Asia are lacking.
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This study identified significant risk factors for major trauma occurring at schools, including age, intention of injury (self-harm), injury type (traffic injuries, falls), and body part injured (head, thoracic, and abdominal injuries).
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Although the incidence of injuries was higher in males, the incidence of self-harm injuries and mortality rates were higher in females.
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The results of this would make a significant contribution to the development of prevention strategies and relative policies concerning school injuries.
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Data availability
The datasets analyzed during the current study are not publicly available due the regulations of PATOS organizations but are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request approved by the PATOS EXCO meeting mainly composed of data-contributing principal investigators. The contact of the PATOS coordination center is listed below. Ms. Suhee Agnes KIM, MPH. Laboratory of Emergency Medical Services, Biomedical Research Institute. Seoul National University Hospital, Seoul, South Korea. Tel: +2 2072 4683; Mobile: +82 10 8572 7715; http://lems.re.kr/ E-mail: suheekimsnuh@gmail.com.
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Acknowledgements
We acknowledge all participating PATOS sites for excellent collaboration as well as the data quality assurance of the PATOS coordination center at Seoul National University Hospital to improve prehospital and in-hospital care for trauma patients in Asia. The authors also thank Yu-Yun Wu, Su-Mei Wang, and Chin-Hao Chang, staff of the National Taiwan University Hospital Statistical Consulting Unit for their help with the statistical consultation.
Funding
This study was supported by grants from Taiwan Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) (MOST 106-2314-B-002-208-MY1, MOST 107-2314-B-002-011, MOST 108-2314-B-002-130-MY3, MOST 105-2314-B-002-200-MY3, MOST 109-2314-B-002-154-MY2) and National Taiwan University Hospital Yun-Lin Branch (NTUHYL.111.S017).
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S.-H.C.: Writing—Original Draft, Formal analysis, Visualization. M.-C.L.: Writing—Review & Editing. P-.-Y.W.: Writing—Review & Editing. W-.-C.T.: Conceptualization, Writing—Original Draft, Formal analysis, Writing—Review & Editing. W.-C.C.: Conceptualization, Writing—Review & Editing, Supervision. M-.H.-M.M.: Writing—Review & Editing, Supervision. S-.D.S.: Methodology, Validation, Resources, Project administration. J.-T.S.: Methodology, Validation, Resources, Project administration. S.F.J.: Methodology, Validation, Resources, Project administration. H.T.: Methodology, Validation, Resources, Project administration. D.N.S.: Methodology, Validation, Resources, Project administration. K.J.H.: Methodology, Validation, Resources, Project administration.
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All methods were carried out in accordance with relevant guidelines and regulations. This research did not involve human embryos, gametes, and stem cells. Ethical approval was obtained from the coordinating center of the Institutional Review Board of the National Taiwan University Hospital (NTUH-202111004RIND), and all centers involved in the PATOS collaboration had local ethical approval. Written inform consent was waived by National Taiwan University Hospital Ethic committee because the designs of retrospective, and data were anonymous and de-identified to the analyzer.
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Chen, SH., Lee, MC., Wang, PY. et al. Characteristic of school injuries in Asia: a cross-national, multi-center observational study. Pediatr Res 95, 1080–1087 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41390-023-02884-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41390-023-02884-9