Characteristics of unintentional injuries in hospitalized children and adolescents-national retrospective study

Introduction/Objective Unintentional injuries is a global health issue among children and adolescents. The aim of this study was to examine the characteristics of unintentional injuries divided according to different age groups and sex among the children and adolescents who have been hospitalized in public hospitals of the Republic of Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Methods A retrospective analysis of the e-base of the Agency for Certification, Accreditation and Health Care Quality Improvement of the Republic of Srpska data were collected from 10 public hospitals for patients aged <= 19 years, who have been hospitalized for unintentional injuries in the period of January 2018 and December 2020. Results The study identified 1336 patients who were hospitalized for unintentional injuries, most of whom were boys (67.4%). Falls were the most frequent cause of hospitalization in children of all age categories (aged 1 (70.6%), 1-4 (59.1%), 5-9 (68.5%)) and adolescents aged 10-14 (64.1%), while road traffic injuries were the leading cause of hospitalization in adolescents aged 15-19 (62.6%). The cause of injury for the hospitalized patients were significantly related to age (p < 0.001) and sex (p < 0.05) groups. According to the nature of the injury in relation to the area of the body, the most frequent injuries were to the head (41.1%), caused by traffic accidents and falls. Conclusion Since falls and road traffic injuries were the leading causes of hospitalization, preventive measures should be taken to reduce the frequency of these injuries.