Profile of non-accidental childhood injury at a tertiary hospital in south-west Nigeria.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Injury threatens children lives worldwide. Most studies from Nigeria have been on accidental injuries in children. OBJECTIVES: To study the profile of non-accidental injuries among children receiving care at a tertiary hospital in Nigeria. METHODS: Children with non-accidental injuries were serially recruited and studied. The Paediatrics Trauma Score (PTS) was tested against the outcome. RESULTS: Non-accidental injuries accounted for 0.84% of all 5264 patients and 21.3% of the 207 injured. The case fatality rate was 6.8%. Physical abuse, sexual assault, drowning/near drowning, gunshot, poisoning and human bite caused the injuries in 68.2, 13.6, 6.8, 4.5, 4.5 and 2.3%, respectively. One-way analysis of variance and Tukey post hoc analysis showed that the mean PTS score of patients who died was significantly lower than the scores of those who were either discharged home or who discharged against medical advice (p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: The burden of non-accidental childhood injuries was high in the study area.