English abstract
Objectives: We sought to identify the prevalence, commonest causes, and severity of home
accident injuries and their effects on children who present to the emergency department
(ED) of a university-tertiary hospital in Oman. Methods: We conducted a retrospective
study among children aged ≤ 18 years old who presented with home accidents to the
ED between January and June 2017. A checklist for data collection was designed to
include demographic data, causes and effects of home accidents, and treatment outcomes.
The data was retrieved from the hospital electronic patient records. Results: A total of
1333 children presented to the ED over six months as a result of unintentional home
accidents, giving a prevalence of 7.7% from all children who visited the ED. There was a
significant male to female ratio of 1.7:1. The most prevalent causes for home accidents
were 'falls' in 716 (53.7%) children, followed by 'struck by/against-animate/inanimate
mechanical force' in 201 (15.1%) children. 'Poisoning' was the third major cause in
117 (8.8%) children. Severity scale showed that around 36.0% of children suffered
from severe injuries and 5.4% were admitted to the hospital. Conclusions: Despite this
study being a single-center study in Oman, it indicates a high prevalence and severity of
unintentional home accidents among children. The study findings suggest the need for
implementing strategies to raise public awareness of child safety at home and to improve
the preparedness of healthcare providers in ED to deal with such accidents.
