Frequency and Epidemiologic Characteristics of Accidents in Children Attending Sari Bouali Hospital, 2017

 Background and purpose: Accidents are among the main causes of mortality in children. The aim of this study was to investigate the frequency and epidemiologic characteristics of injuries in children attending an emergency department in Sari, north of Iran.  Materials and methods: In this cross-sectional study, the records of children under 16 years of age attending Sari Bouali Hospital (2017) due to injuries were investigated. Data were collected through a checklist that included items on age and gender, as well as the time, day, month, season, and location (home, school, road) of accidents, and the results (death, treatment, and recovery). Data analysis was done in SPSS V22. Results: The records of 108 children were studied. The majority of accidents occurred in boys (n=91). Almost 79.5% of the accidents happened after midday. Falling down (47.7%) in house and street (more than 90%) was found to be the main reason for attending emergency department. No significant relationship was found between the variables studied (P> 0.05). Conclusion: Current study suggests that more trainings should be available to parents in order to decrease the causes of injuries and accidental falls. Also, the safety of parks and recreation areas is a key to increase children health and safety.