Accidental death in infants and young children in Lishui,Zhejiang

Objective To explore the characteristics of accidental death in infants and children under 5 years of age.Methods A total of 359 accidental death cases occurred between Oct 1st,2003 and Sep 30th,2010,in infants and children under 5 years of age in Lishui,Zhejiang.The data of accidents were collected and investigated.Results Accidental death accounted for 20.34% of all death cases for the population.The rate of annual accidental death was 2.32‰ on average,which decreased from 2.36‰ in 2004 to 1.83‰ in 2010.However,the proportion of accidental death increased from 16.62% to 20.22% during the period.The incidence and mortality rates of accidental injuries were slightly higher in rural areas than in urban areas(P0.01).The mortality rate of accidental injuries was higher in boys(12.22‰) than in girls(10.54‰)(P0.01).The three leading causes of injury death were accidental suffocation,drowning and traffic accident.Of the accidental death cases in infants and children under 5 years of age,35.65% were under one year of age,20.61% aged 1 year,17.27% aged 2 years,13.93% aged 3 years and 12.53% aged 4 years.Accidental suffocation was the major cause of accidental death in infants,while drowning and traffic accidents were the leading causes of accidental death in children between one and five years old.Conclusion Accidental injuries are major causes for the death of children under 5 years of age in Lishui,Zhejiang.Effective prevention measures should be taken to reduce accident injuries in children,especially for accidental suffocation,drowning and traffic accident related death.