الفهرس 
IntroductionOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
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Abstract
Injuries are a major health problem and the most common cause of death in children under five years of age they are not accidents, they are predictable and like many diseases, preventable. The home environment is a common place for unintentional injuries among children under 5 years of age.
The aim of this work was to measure the frequency of home injuries among under five year children at pediatric outpatient clinic in Ain Shams university hospital, to determine the different types and the risk factors of home injuries among children under five years, to identify mothers’ practices concerning first aid measures in case of occurrence of home injuries and to compare home environmental safety among home injured and non-injured children.
A structured interview questionnaire was designed and applied on (200) mothers. The questionnaire includes Section I: Sociodemographic characteristics of the studied mothers, Section II: Frequency, types, cause, place of home injuries, mother’s practice at the time of injury occurrence and the outcomes, Section III: Assessment of home environmental safety.
Study results revealed that the prevalence of unintentional home injury was (61.0%) over the previous 1-year period.
Regarding child age, gender and rank: Nearly half (47.9 %) of the children who had a home injury were in the ‘‘25–48 months’’ age range comprised the largest group. Nearly two third (62.3%) of home injured children were boys. About one third was the first baby for his family and nearly half of the injured children (49.2%) were ranked in second or third birth order in their families.
Regarding type of home related injury: Falls represented the highest percentage of injury (33.6%) followed by cut wounds (13.9%) then scald (9.8%) and burn (8.2%).
Regarding the place of the occurrence of injuries at home: Two third of injury occurred in living room. The kitchen was the second most common place for injuries.
Regarding mothers’ practices at time of injury occurrence: 70.5% of the injured children received correct action in form of proper first aid measure often by mother or other family member, transfer to the nearby health care facility and seeking medical care in a private clinic.
Regarding the injury outcome: The majority of injured children (86.9 %) were recovered completely. Disability was only associated with falls. Most common injuries admitted to hospital were poisoning followed by choking then falls.
Regarding knowledge of first aid and source of knowledge: More than two thirds (68%) of the studied mothers were unaware of the correct first aid measures done to their children in case of injury. The findings of this study showed that level of knowledge of first aid increase by increasing educational level of mothers. Main sources were relatives and friends reported, followed by doctors and nurses, then television and only (4.7%) of them depend on internet to obtain information.
Regarding association between risk factors relative to infrastructure home environment and home injuries: it was revealed that five out of sixteen variables were statistically significant (p<0.05), and represented risk factors for the occurrence of domestic injuries: presence of medications and vitamins within reach of children; presence of cleaning supplies within reach of children; uncovered electrical outlets which accessible by the child; holding child while cooking and giving children round, hard and small food.
Recommendations include Raising awareness of parents about the risk factors, first aid training and the ways to prevent home injuries through home visitation and pamphlet teaching as to protect young children from such injuries, and houses should be also be designed and arranged in a way to prevent home injuries.