Status and risk factors of unintentional injuries among Chinese undergraduates: a cross-sectional study

Abstract

Background: Injuries affect all age groups but have a particular impact on young people. To evaluate the incidence of non-fatal, unintentional, injuries among undergraduates in Wenzhou, China, assess the burden caused by these injuries, and explore the associated risk factors for unintentional injuries among these undergraduates, we conducted a college-based cross-sectional study.

Methods: Participants were selected by a multi-stage random sampling method, and 2,287 students were asked whether they had had an injury in the last 12 months; the location, cause, and consequences of the event. The questionnaire included demographic and socioeconomic characteristics, lifestyle habits, and the scale of type A behaviour pattern (TABP). Multivariate logistic regression models were used; crude odds ratios (ORs), adjusted ORs and their 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were estimated, with students having no injuries as the reference group.

Results: The incidence of injuries among undergraduates in Wenzhou was 18.71 injuries per 100 person-years (95%CI: 17.12~20.31 injuries per 100 person-years). Falls were the leading cause of injury, followed by traffic injuries, and animal/insect bites. Male students were more likely to be injured than female students. Risk factors associated with unintentional injuries among undergraduates were: students majoring in non-medicine (adjusted OR: 1.53; 95% CI: 1.19-1.96); type A behaviour pattern (adjusted OR: 2.99; 95% CI: 1.45-6.14); liking sports (adjusted OR: 1.86; 95% CI: 1.41-2.45).

Conclusions: Injuries have become a public health problem among undergraduates. Falls were the major cause of non-fatal injury. Therefore, individuals, families, schools and governments should promptly adopt preventive measures aimed at preventing and controlling morbidity due to non-fatal injury, especially among students identified to be at high-risk; such as male students with type A behaviour pattern who like sports.

Figure 1

Proportions of non-fatal unintentional injuries by cause for both male and female undergraduates. Falls = fall on same level from slipping, tripping, collision, and fall from stairs/ladder; Traffic injuries = injured in collision with pedal cycle, motor vehicle, car, bus; Animal/insect bites = bitten by rats, dogs, and nonvenomous insect; Cuts = cut by knife, sword, sharp glass; Burns = fire and burn/scald; Poisoning = drug, alcohol poisoning; Choking = Inhalation and ingestion of food causing obstruction of respiratory tract, accidental drowning; Others = injury from electric current, radiation, product, consumer goods, etc.

Figure 2

Time distribution of non-fatal injuries among undergraduates in Wenzhou, Zhejiang, China. 406 injured cases reported the month injured, and were used to explore the time distribution of injuries in this figure. 22 cases did not report the time injured, and were excluded from this analysis.