Influence of school-level factors and anxiety on injury-prone children

Objective To understand the characteristics of injuries among rural children, and to determine the relationships between school-level factors with anxiety among injury-prone children, to provide a reference for making effective measures to prevent and control the injuries. Methods A cross-sectional survey was conducted in the Qingxin District of Qingyuan City. Six primary schools and middle schools were randomly selected from two towns. A total of 5 250 students in grades 3-9 were investigated. Students filled out the questionnaire themselves. Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders (SCARED) was used to assess anxiety. Results Among the 770 rural children who suffered injuries during the past year, the leading cause of injury was falling (44.62%), falling at home (29.61%), getting injuried in low limbs (29.45%), getting injuried by oneself (41.00%) and mainly unintentional injuries (68.66%). About 35.06% of children reported anxiety symptoms. Approximately 14.94% of children were injury-prone type. Significant differences in educational stage, boarding school, fighting involvement, and somatization/panic between injury-prone children were found in control group (P<0.05). The robust Poisson-GEE model showed that primary school students in high grade and middle grade, fighting with classmates, somatic/panic associated with injury risk (PR value was 2.11, 1.75, 1.58 and 1.58, respectively). Conclusion Injury-prone children in rural are affected by school-level factors as well as anxiety symptoms. In addition to safety education, mental health promotion and prevention of school bullying should be adopted in schools.