Trends in childhood trauma mortality in the fast economically developing State of Qatar.
BACKGROUND
the aim of this study was to explore the trends in injury mortality in children aged 0-18 years in the State of Qatar. No such study has been conducted previously in Qatar.


METHODS
univariate statistical analysis was used in this retrospective descriptive study. A total of 2934 children aged 0-18 years who died due to injuries in the period of 1 January 1993 to 31 December 2007 were studied.


RESULTS
the leading causes of death were road traffi c injuries (RTIs) (71.3%), drowning (9.3%) and accidental falls (6.0%). Injury death rates were higher in citizens (57.7%) than in non-citizens (42.3%). The children of 15-18 years old had the highest frequency of injury deaths (34.4%), followed by children of 10-14 years old (21.3%). The mortality rate of RTI per 100 000 population increased remarkably in the year 2005 compared to previous years.


CONCLUSIONS
the present study suggests that RTI is a major cause of childhood death. Injury mortality is higher in boys than in girls. During the period of 1993-2007, there was a dramatic increase in childhood mortality caused by RTI. This study highlights the burden of RTI caused mortalities in children, which requires immediate action.
Bener
Abdulbari
A
Department of Medical Statistics & Epidemiology, Hamad General Hospital & Hamad Medical Corporation, Doha, Qatar. abener@hmc.org.qa
Hussain
Syed J
SJ
Ghaffar
Abdul
A
Abou-Taleb
Hala
H
El-Sayed
Hesham F
HF
D000058:Accidental Falls / Q000401:mortality; D000063:Accidents, Traffic / Q000401:mortality / Q000639:trends; D000293:Adolescent; D017677:Age Distribution; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004332:Drowning / Q000401:mortality; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D011780:Qatar / Q000453:epidemiology; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D015996:Survival Rate / Q000639:trends; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000401:mortality* / Q000517:prevention & control