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. 2025 Nov 27:13:1651372.
doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2025.1651372. eCollection 2025.

Characteristics of severe injuries among children and adolescents in a sub-national trauma registry in Saudi Arabia

Meshal Alqahtani  1   2 , Lubna A Alnasser  3   4   5 , Maram A Aldosari  2 , Yasir Almuzaini  6 , Abdullah Alqahtani  3   4 , Ibrahim Albabtain  5 , Hala Tamim  1   7
Affiliations

Characteristics of severe injuries among children and adolescents in a sub-national trauma registry in Saudi Arabia

Meshal Alqahtani et al. Front Public Health. .

Abstract

Introduction: Children and adolescents constitute nearly 30% of the global population, and injuries within this age group represent a significant public health concern worldwide.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted across five hospitals within the MNG-HA. The Trauma Registry database extracted all pediatric patients with injuries from 2015 to 2022 who were admitted for at least 1 day to MNG-HA hospitals. The outcome was severe injuries, defined as an Injury Severity Score (ISS) ≥16, and the characteristics of the patients included various demographic, health, and injury-related factors. Bivariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were reported separately for each age group (0-6, 7-12, and 13-19 years).

Results: Out of 3,382 patients, 16.8% experienced severe injuries, with a higher prevalence among males. Significant associations with severe injuries included drowning, poisoning, and assault in the 0-6 age group; abdominal/spine injuries and motor vehicle crashes, in the 7-12 age group; and poisoning and intentional self-harm in adolescents.

Conclusion: This study identifies critical factors associated with severe injuries across age groups, informing targeted interventions to reduce injury risk in Saudi Arabia.

Keywords: ISS; Saudi Arabia; adolescents; children; severe injuries.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

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