Non-fatal injury rates among the "left-behind children" of rural China.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate patterns of non-fatal unintentional injuries among "left-behind children" in Macheng, China.


METHODS
A cross-sectional survey was conducted in September and October, 2006. Age-specific and sex-specific injury rates were calculated.


RESULTS
3019 students were interviewed in six schools. Of these, 1182 were identified as "left-behind"; 62.3% had both parents away from home, and 37.7% had one parent away from home. The annual injury rate per 1000 among left-behind children was more than twice that of children living with both parents: 252.9 (95% CI 233.0 to 273.0) and 119.8 (95% CI 105 to 134), respectively. Male left-behind children had the highest annual injury rate: 316.4 (95% CI 295 to 338) per 1000. The three leading external causes of injury were similar for both groups of children: falls (33.8%); mechanical injuries (16.2%); and animal bites (14.5%).The location where injuries occurred were home (32.0%), school (26.0%) and roadways (23.9%) for left-behind children. There were no significant associations between the identified guardian and injury mechanism.


CONCLUSIONS
A large proportion of students in the schools of rural Macheng are left-behind children. Left-behind children have a higher injury rate than those in the care of both parents. This may be important in the development of injury prevention strategies in rural communities in China.
Shen
M
M
Department of Maternal and Child Health, Injury Control Research Center, School of Public Health, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Hubei 430030, China.
Yang
S
S
Han
J
J
Shi
J
J
Yang
R
R
Du
Y
Y
Stallones
L
L
D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002654:Child Care / Q000592:standards / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D016487:Parenting; D012423:Rural Health / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D017678:Sex Distribution; D014171:Transients and Migrants; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology