Prevalence and Socio-Demographic Predictors of Domestic Accidents among Children in Khana Local Government Area of Rivers State

Abstract

This study investigated the prevalence and socio-demographic predictors of domestic accidents among children in Khana Local Government Area of Rivers State. Four research questions guided the study. A descriptive survey design was adopted as the research design for this study. A multi-stage sampling procedure was used to select a sample size of 435 respondents for the study. A standardized questionnaire with a reliability coefficient of .82 was used for data collection. Data was analyzed using frequency, percentage and binary logistic regression for relevant variables. The findings of the study revealed that the prevalence of domestic accident among children was 241(58.9%). Fall was the most common type of domestic accident found in this study. The findings of the study revealed that the prevalence of domestic accident is 241(58.9%) with 168(41.1%) indicating that domestic accident had occurred more than once. Fall was the most common type of domestic accident found in this study. 56(35.6%) of the children aged 1-2 years have had domestic accident more than once, 18(16.1%) within age 3- 4 years have had domestic accident once, and 5(3.6%) of those aged 5-8 years have had domestic accident more than once. 82(34.4%) boys and 27(15.8%) girls have had domestic accidents severally. The results further showed that factors such as gender had statistically significant relationship with domestic accident whereas age and family size did not have statistically significant relationship with domestic accidents. It was concluded that the prevalence of domestic accident among children in Khana Local Government Area was high with fall been the most common among them. Socio-demographic factors such as gender was a predictors of domestic accident among children. It was recommended among others that health professionals should establish parent’s educational programmes especially for mothers about home accidents and how to manage it. This is because education was found to have a statistically significant relationship between domestic accidents.