Status of injuries as a public health burden among children and adolescents in China: A systematic review and meta-analysis

INTRODUCTION: Injuries among children and adolescents remain a major public health problem in China. In the present study, we undertook a systematic review and meta-analysis of the published literature of epidemiological studies investigating injuries among children and adolescents in China and aimed to describe the status of injury among children and adolescents (aged 0–19 years) in China nationwide. A random-effects meta-analysis model was used to calculate the pooled prevalence of injury with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) across studies. The potential heterogeneity moderators were identified by subgroup and sensitivity analysis. A total of 775,615 children and adolescents were included in this study. Overall, the pooled injury prevalence among children and adolescents aged 0 to 19 years was 23.0% (95% CI 20.0%−27.0%) in studies using 1996 version of injury definition, and 13.0% (95% CI 10.0%−17.0%) in studies using 2004 version of injury definition. Relevant heterogeneity moderators have been identified by subgroup analysis. Sensitivity analysis yielded consistent results. CONCLUSION: Our study shows a moderately high injury prevalence among children and adolescents aged 0 to 19 years in China, more prevention policies and programs should be urgently developed to decrease the occurrence of child and adolescent injury.