Community Medicine Abstracts - College of Medicine and Health ...

Project No. 98 (1996)Major Causes of Accidental Mortality among Children Aged 0-14 Years in Al-Ain, UAEStudent Authors: Khalifa Moh'd Al SamanFaculty Supervisors: Dr. A. Bener, Dr. N. PughAbstract:Objective To identify the major causes of accidental mortality among children age 0-14years old in Al Ain district for the years 1980-1995.Methods This is a retrospective, descriptive study done at the preventive medicinedepartment in Al Ain district. The target population was all children aged 0-14 years,who died from accident and trauma during the years 1980-1995.Results 301 children from different nationalities died from accidents in Al Ain from1980- 1995 (69.4% were males and 30.6% were females). UAE and other Arabsrepresented the majority of deaths (57.8%, 18.9% respectively). Most of the mortalityoccurred in the age groups 1-4 years (28.6%) and 5-8 years (27.2%). Head and neckinjuries were the major mechanism of death (57.5%) followed by burns (13.3%) andfractures (10.6%). The major causes of accidental deaths were: RTA (65.1%),followed by drowning (15.6%) and burns (8.0%). The year 1998 witnessed thehighest percentage of deaths (9.6%) and February (12.6%) represented the majormonth in number of accidental death.Conclusion Childhood injuries represent a significant public health problem and amajor health hazard leading to high morbidity and mortality in Al Ain.Recommendation Preventive efforts should give special attention to the causes ofaccidental death in children and health education programs should aim to educatefamilies to protect their children from dangerous situation that lead to their accidentaldeath.