Background Unintentional injuries in and around the home are an important cause of death and disability among young children globally. However, in Nepal, there is a lack of data regarding home injuries and home hazards to guide the development of effective interventions for preventing childhood home injuries

Objectives To explore the hazards associated with unintentional home injuries in children<5 years in rural Nepal.

Methods A community-based household survey was conducted in 740 households in rural areas of Makwanpur district during February and March 2015. Household respondents reported home injuries in the previous 3 months and researcher observation identified and quantified injury hazards. Injury incidence, mechanism and the proportion of households with different hazards were described. Multivariable logistic regression explored the association between the number and type of home hazards and injuries, adjusted for family and home variables.

Findings Injuries severe enough to need treatment or resulting in non-participation in usual activities for at least a day were reported in 242/1042 (23.2%) children<5 years. The mean number of injury hazards per household was 14.98 (SD=4.48) in the 740 surveyed households with a range of 3–31. Regression analysis found a positive relationship between the number of home hazards and the number of injuries. There was an estimated increase of 31% in the odds of injury occurrence associated with each additional injury hazard found in the home (Adjusted OR 1.31; 95% CI: 1.20–1.42).

Conclusions This study indicated that there is a significant burden of injuries occurring in the home to pre-school children and that hazards increase the risk of injury occurrence.

Policy implications Injury prevention initiatives should consider the development and evaluation of interventions to reduce the number of hazards in the home.