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Original article
Injury-related childhood mortality in migrant households in a southern city of China
  1. H Wang1,
  2. G A Smith2,
  3. L Stallones3,
  4. H Xiang2
  1. 1Shenzhen Maternity & Child Healthcare Hospital, Southern Medical University, Shenzhen, Guangdong, The People's Republic of China
  2. 2Center for Injury Research and Policy, The Research Institute at Nationwide Children's Hospital, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, USA
  3. 3Colorado Injury Control Research Center, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado, USA
  1. Correspondence to Dr H Wang, Shenzhen Maternity & Child Healthcare Hospital, Southern Medical University, Shenzhen, Guangdong, China; xwanghong{at}163.com

Abstract

Background Sporadic evidence from China suggests that migrant children are at higher risk of injury-related mortality than local indigenous children.

Methods Child deaths from 2004 to 2008 were provided by the Shenzhen Women and Child Health Surveillance System. Population data for children 1–4 years old were obtained from the Shenzhen Bureau of Statistics and number of live births was obtained from birth registration records. All-cause and injury-related childhood mortality rates and death causes were calculated and compared.

Results A total of 3774 deaths were identified. All-cause mortality rates per 10 000 dropped significantly from 66.28 (95% CI 60.50 to 72.06) in infants (<1 year old) and 7.40 (95% CI 6.16 to 8.64) in early childhood (1–4 years old) in 2004 to 40.42 (95% CI 37.31 to 43.53) and 3.97 (95% CI 3.36 to 4.58) in 2008. However, injury-related mortality rates did not change significantly from 2.36 (95% CI 1.27 to 3.45) in infants and 2.97 (95% CI 2.19 to 3.76) in early childhood in 2004 to 2.00 (95% CI 1.31 to 2.69) and 2.00 (95% CI 1.56 to 2.43) in 2008. Injury-related mortality rates were significantly higher among migrant children (p<0.05). Drowning and traffic crashes were the top two causes of early childhood injury deaths; suffocation was the leading cause of infant injury deaths.

Conclusion Migrant children were at significantly higher risk of injury-related mortality than local indigenous children. Injury prevention in Shenzhen should target drowning and traffic safety among young children and suffocation among infants as top priorities.

  • Developing nations
  • drowning
  • falls
  • child

https://doi.org/10.1136/ip.2009.023069

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    Footnotes

    • Funding HW was a trainee of the USA–China Agricultural Injury Research Training project, funded by a grant from the National Institutes of Health Fogarty International Center (PIs: LS and HX, Grant 1D43TW007257-01A2). LS and HX were supported in part by grants from the National Institutes of Health Fogarty International Center (PIs: LS and HX, Grant 1D43TW007257-01A2) and the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (PI: HX, Grant R49/CE001172-01). The findings and conclusions in this report are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the funding agencies.

    • Competing interests None.

    • Ethics approval This study was approved by the Institutional Review Board of Shenzhen Maternity & Child Healthcare Hospital.

    • Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.