Author Affiliations: Department of Medical Statistics & Epidemiology, Hamad General Hospital & Hamad Medical Corporation, Doha, Qatar and Department of Evidence for Population Health Unit, School of Epidemiology and Health Sciences, The University of Manchester, Manchester, UK (Bener A); WHO, EMRO Regional Adviser, Healthy Lifestyle Promotion/Injury and Violence Prevention and Disability, Cairo, Egypt (Hussain SJ, Abou-Taleb H); Global Forum for Health Research, WHO, Geneva, Switzerland (Ghaffar A); WHO/EMRO Temporary Adviser, Head, Department of Pediatrics, Suez Canal University, Egypt (El-Sayed HF)

Corresponding Author: Abdulbari Bener, Advisor to WHO, Consultant and Head, Department of Medical Statistics, Hamad General Hospital, Hamad Medical Corporation, and Weill Cornell Medical College, PO Box 3050, Doha, State of Qatar (Tel: +974-439 3765/6;  Fax: +974-439 3769; Email: abener@hmc.org.qa; abb2007@qatar-med.cornell.edu)

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 traffic 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.

Key words:  childhood injury; epidemiology; intentional injury; mortality; prevention; unintentional injury

World J Pediatr 2011;7(1):41-44