Citation

Liyanage IK, Pathirana AC, Wickramasinghe KK, Karunathilake IM, Olupaliyawa A. Asia Pac. J. Public Health 2008; 20: 156-161.

Affiliation

Faculty of Medicine, University of Colombo, Sri Lanka. isurujith@gmail.com

Copyright

(Copyright © 2008, Asia-Pacific Academic Consortium for Public Health, Publisher SAGE Publishing)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

19533875

Abstract

Unintentional injuries are common among children of Sri Lanka and globally. These can be prevented by identification and modification of risk factors. A pre-tested, structured-observation and an interview were carried out in 270 households with children less than five years in three districts. A high prevalence of risk factors for falls (58.1%), burns (51.6%), sharps injuries (51.3%), choking (65.9%) and animal-bites (53.2%) were observed. Parental identification of risk factors was less. Parents educational level significantly affected both the prevalence of risk factors (P < .05) and parental awareness (P < .05). Only 38% has received injury prevention education and the attending physician has counseled only 5% of the parents. A high prevalence of risk factors, low parental awareness and inadequate counseling by primary care physicians was noted. Primary health-care providers should be educated to encourage counseling of parents during office visits.

Language: en