Frequency and associated factors of home injuries in pre-school children over the 3 years of age

INTRODUCTION: Home injury risk of children is high because of not being aware of the danger, being sensitive to environmental risks and being curious about finding and learning new things.
The main aims of this study were to determine the frequency of home injuries in children over 3 years of age; to examine the relationship between frequency of home injuries and characteristics of home and the safety measures.


METHODS: The study data were collected through a questionnaire about the sociodemographic characteristics and safety of the home and the “Scale for Identification by Mothers of the Safety Measures Taken to Prevent Home Injuries in Children between 0-6 Ages”.
RESULTS: In this study, it was determined that 26.4% of children had a home injury once in their life, and 7.3% of children had home injury during the last year. The most common home injury was falling and the most frequently injured area is the upper and/or lower extremity. It was determined that the injuries occurred most frequently in the lounge, in summer, on Tuesdays, and in the afternoon.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: Observation of children is very important in terms of preventing possible injuries. It should not be forgotten that home injuries are preventable. Parents should be educated about home injuries.