[Trend and causes of injury deaths among children in Macheng city of Hubei province during 1969 through 1998].

OBJECTIVES: To describe time trend of mortality and proportional mortality of injury and to determine the characteristics of distribution of injury deaths in children aged 0 - 14 in Macheng city during 1969 to 1998. METHODS: Data were collected from Notification System for Deaths of Macheng City during 1969 to 1998. Injury claimed 14,510 deaths caused by injury in children in total during these years. Changes in mortality and proportional mortality for injury were fitted with log-linear and simple linear regression models to compare their difference in children with different gender and ages. RESULTS: Both injury mortality and proportional mortality in infants declined during the past 30 years, and injury mortality dropped but proportional mortality due to injury increased gradually in children aged 1 - 14 years old. From 1984 to 1998, the average injury mortality was 81.36 per 100,000 children of 0 - 14 of age, with a potential years of life lost rate was 57.92 per 1,000 children. Boys had higher injury mortality than girls. Injury mortality in infants reached 560.15 per 100,000, and mechanical suffocation was the leading cause of injury deaths in infants. Injury mortality was 95.48 per 100,000 in children aged 1 - 4 years. Injury deaths in children aged 0 - 4 accounted for 73.2 percent of total injury deaths. And, drowning was the leading cause of injury deaths in children aged 1 - 14 years. CONCLUSION: Children under five years old were the vulnerable population for injury death needed for special care and strategy and measures should be taken to control injury in children in the rural areas.