This study aims to build an evidence based child safety strategies by examining and analyzing several data on child injury. Both a telephone survey and the SNS Big data survey have been conducted to assess public awareness on child safety. The first aid records and the emergency department medical records have been analyzed to investigate the characteristics of child injury as well as to identify major causes and results of child injury. Risk factors and prevention strategies are examined through an in-depth interview with child and parents of the injured, and the burden of child injury has been estimated based on the mortality statistics, the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (KNHANES) and the Korean National Hospital Discharge in-depth Injury Survey.
The result shows that the child injury rate has increased, whereas the child safety mortality rate has steeply dropped. Infant and youth have been found high risk groups. Injury mainly occurs in the house or on the road during on weekends than weekdays. Traffic accidents and falls are the main mechanisms of child injury. Je Ju-do and Kang Won-do are regions with the high child injury occurrences. Among all the mecha-nisms of child injury, traffic accidents and falls are the main injury mechanisms causing fatal head injury, death and the highest burden of disease.
This study suggests that to prevent child injury it is necessary to build differential injury prevention strategies by gender, age, region and injury mechanisms, construct infra structure such as the injury surveillance system and the control tower of child injury, and develop a safety oriented culture through a safety education and the public campaign on child safety.